Meigs County commissioners approve 50/50 allocation for proposed local sales-tax referendum

Meigs County commissioners voted to place a local-option sales-tax measure on the ballot that would split revenue 50/50 between the county school system and sanitation services.

The commission considered two allocation options — a 50/50 split and a 50/25/25 split that would have divided funds among schools, sanitation and debt or purchases. Commissioners asked whether the county could later reassign funds and whether legal counsel should review the ballot language. One commissioner said the answer would determine whether the allocation could be changed without returning to voters.

"So then y'all can't send it. You would have to go back to the voting," a commissioner asked during the discussion, and another said a ballot change would require putting the question before voters again. The group agreed to proceed with the 50/50 option and to seek answers to outstanding legal questions before wider public outreach.

"I'll make a motion to go 50/50 on the sanitation," a commissioner said, and the motion was seconded and approved by voice roll call.

County staff acknowledged they would gather more information about procedure and timing and that any future change would require another ballot measure. Commissioners asked staff to prepare public-facing materials once the final ballot language and timing were confirmed.

The measure will proceed to the ballot process; commissioners said they expect additional procedural and legal clarifications before a public information campaign.