DeKalb County October Local Option Sales Tax Report

December 1, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County’s local option sales tax collections for October were down from September but up from October, 2023.

According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, DeKalb County collected $179,384 in October, down from $226,517 in September but up from $176,794 in October, 2023.

Local option sales tax collections in October were up in three of the four towns in DeKalb County compared to October, 2023.

In Smithville, October collections were $395,496, down from $413,057 in September but above $320,369 in October 2023.

Alexandria’s collections dropped slightly from $31,445 in September to $30,319 in October but were up from $28,779 in October, 2023.

Dowelltown’s collections were at $3,054 in October, down slightly from $3,246 in September and below collections of $3,140 in October, 2023.

Liberty’s dropped from $19,266 in September to $12,889 in October but were above the October 2023 collections of $11,463.

Net collections of local option sales taxes for the county and cities combined in October were $621,145, down from $693,524 in September but up from $540,546 in October, 2023.

October sales tax collections reflect previous month activity.

November 30, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Cannon County prevailed in both games over the DCHS Tigers and Lady Tigers Friday night at Woodbury.
The Lady Tigers were beaten 57 to 23 and the Tigers were upended 71 to 34.

In the girls game, Cannon County opened up a 19 to 4 lead after the first period and led 30 to 12 at halftime. The Lionettes led 45 to 15 after the third period and cruised to a 57 to 23 victory over DeKalb County.

For DC, Allie Melton scored 8, Jordan Agee 5, Chloe VanVranken 4, and Avery Agee and Lillie Young each with 3.

For the boys, the Lions held a 16 to 11 advantage after the first period and led 28 to 20 at halftime. Cannon County pulled away in the second half leading 53 to 22 after the third period and knocked off the Tigers 71 to 34.

Seth Fuson led DC in scoring with 7, Jon Hendrix and Porter Hancock each with 6, David Wheeler 5, Chase Young 3, Kiece Hannah, Elliot Barnes, and Dallas Kirby each with 2 and Logan Duke 1.

The Tigers (1-4) and the Lady Tigers (2-3) will travel to Smith County Tuesday night, December 3. The girls game will tip off at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game and WJLE will broadcast both LIVE.

November 29, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

After failing to take up the measure twice earlier this year, the county commission will again be asked to adopt a non-binding resolution in opposition to Governor Bill Lee’s “Education Freedom Act” voucher plan when it meets in regular monthly session Monday night, December 2 in the history room of the county complex. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

Earlier this month Governor Lee announced that his school voucher proposal would be refiled for 2025. The bill has been the topic of discussion between lawmakers since it was originally filed last year. The next session of the Tennessee General Assembly is set to convene January 14. In April Governor Lee announced that the issue was dead for this year as the two chambers admitted they couldn’t agree on a path forward. Tennessee House and Senate Republicans had vastly different visions for how to implement school choice, but ultimately couldn’t meet in the middle.

Also in April the county commission was scheduled to discuss and act on a resolution in opposition to the “Education Freedom Act” voucher plan. Although it was on the meeting agenda under new business, the commission voted 10-3 to remove it from consideration. The previous month (March), the commission failed to take up the resolution for a vote. Seventh district commissioner Beth Pafford made a motion to add the issue to the agenda for consideration under new business but during a roll call vote it failed to receive the votes needed.

Commissioner Pafford has renewed her request for the county commission to take a stand in opposition to the governor’s voucher plan. The issue was raised during Monday night’s monthly committee meeting of the whole.

Commissioner Glynn Merriman said this is a matter the school board should be taking up and not the county commission.

“There are cities, county commissions, and school boards across the state that have passed versions of this,” said Commissioner Pafford.

“I totally disagree with this. I think the money should follow the children,” said Commissioner Merriman.

Commissioner Pafford gave her reasons for bringing this up again.

“Nothing has fundamentally changed about the proposed plan. It is still universal vouchers. They do have $10,000 for students and families making 300% at the; poverty line or below which for a family of four if you are making $70,000 or $90,000 you could take advantage of that while the other half of the vouchers are for anyone,” explained Commissioner Pafford.

“The one change the governor has added is funding for new school construction which is fantastic. We know we need help. It is a huge amount of money that counties have to expend and little rural counties like ours don’t have the tax base that bigger counties do. My recommendation would be to do that outside of a voucher bill because that would be beneficial to counties,” said Pafford.

“I think its important to remember that public schools came to be because there was a belief that every kid should have an opportunity to learn and not just the privileged and well connected because that’s how education worked back then but there was a decision made that the whole community benefitted when all kids had access to education. It was not designed to subsidize the private schools that were already in operation”.

“I am not here to say that I don’t ever support using money. My goal is to help as many kids learn as possible and that is a huge, huge task. If it was easy we would have a plan that worked for everybody all the time but its hard. These are people and they all have different needs and we work really hard to meet those needs. When there are instances where there is a demonstrated need that a kid would benefit from services at one school that the public school can’t provide I don’t have a problem with that but this doesn’t have anything to do with that. This is not about academic needs. It is not about financial needs. Its about funding private schools and the states that have implemented universal vouchers have seen their private schools begin overtime to require that their parents apply for the vouchers to pay and they take up most of the money. And there is a transportation issue. There are a whole lot of pieces that go into going to school that the universal vouchers does not take care of,” Pafford explained.

“Private schools have interviews and you can come if you meet their values and standards but if you don’t you are not welcome. It specifically says in the plan that IEPs are not guaranteed that so those students are automatically out. Kentucky, Nebraska, and Colorado this last election cycle all voted against a ballot measure to institute universal vouchers. We don’t get to do that. Our legislators have to put that on the ballot. The people don’t have the power to do that. One way we can use our voice to say this is not a plan we support is to do it through a resolution and that is why I am proposing this again,” she said.

“TISA is the new funding formula in Tennessee. Its not BEP anymore. The goal was to supposedly make it better but there are a lot of concerns about how much money is actually going to be coming to our county to support the operation of schools especially a couple of years from now. They are still figuring everything out. I have also heard that they have created a new definition for the way they determine if students are economically disadvantaged. Right now you get more money for more kids who are economically disadvantaged. Also the new funding source that the governor has said they have for new construction is from sports betting revenues. They have been taking in money for that since 2021. That money goes into a lottery for education program which funds all kinds of things, after school programs, the two year associate’s degree, the HOPE scholarship, college for students with special needs, and for veterans to have scholarships. Where are the cuts going to be so they can use that 80% toward school construction,” asked Pafford.

“Again, I am all for the construction but I don’t want to take away from other good programs that have gone on in the state to do that. Also when money goes to private schools they are not held to the same accountability that public schools are and public schools should be held accountable for student learning. Private schools will not be held to that. They did say they will have to take a national test. Our public school students are required to take TCAP. My questions would be will their third graders be held back if they do not meet expectations on the reading portion of the tests and will they be required to have tutoring in fourth grade and will the fourth graders be checked for adequate growth. Will they be required to have tutoring every day when they move to fifth grade if they don’t show the adequate growth. In my opinion tax payer money should be tracked and there should be some accountability there,” said Commissioner Pafford.

The proposed non-binding resolution opposing Governor Lee’s “Education Freedom Act” to be considered by the county commission Monday night is as follows:

Whereas, the Tennessee Constitution, Article XI, Section 12, says the legislature “shall provide for the maintenance, support, and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools” and

Whereas, this constitutional guarantee is heavily reliant on adequate funding to equip schools with necessary resources to serve the various needs of Tennessee’s public school students; and

Whereas, the DeKalb County Commission is charged with funding schools so that in DeKalb County schools, regardless of background, needs, or ability, all students receive the best possible educational opportunities; and

Whereas, DeKalb County Schools are the cornerstones of our community, serving every eligible DeKalb County student who wishes to enroll, including over 2,800 student (39% from economically disadvantaged backgrounds) and employing over 450 people; and

Whereas, to provide a free and appropriate education for all, public schools need all available state funding in order to continue to improve and without necessitating an increased burden on local taxpayers, reducing services for students, or weakening the capacity of the public education system to serve all students effectively, and

Whereas, more than five decades after introduction, vouchers remain controversial, unpopular, and unproven; and

Whereas, public schools are transparent due to open meetings records laws, and state-mandated academic and financial standards, unlike private schools that do not follow state accountability standards, make budgets public, or adhere to open meetings records laws; and

Whereas, all educational institutions receiving public funds should have the same accountability and performance reporting expectations so that the public may understand the use and efficacy of those public funds; and

Whereas, DeKalb County Schools offer a wide range of specialized programs including special education services, career and technical education training aligned with local workforce needs, arts programs, after school programs, and much more; and

Whereas, vouchers give choices to private schools, not to students’ parents, since private schools decide whether they will accept vouchers, which students they want to admit, and what reasons they might use to dismiss students; and

Whereas, the proposed bill lacks sufficient oversight accountability, and transparency mechanisms, raising concerns about misuse of public funds; and,

Whereas, the DeKalb County Commission believes public funds should be directed to public schools for the betterment of the student population and community overall;

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the DeKalb County Commission urges the Tennessee General Assembly to consider the effects that Education Savings Accounts will have on local school districts and to instead seek ways to support and strengthen public schools throughout the state”.

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