Education sales tax renewal is on the ballot this November in DeKalb County: Here's what it would do

Voters in DeKalb County will decide whether to renew a special one-cent sales tax that goes toward improving schools.

DeKalb County's E-SPLOST is a special local sales tax that goes toward improving the DeKalb County School District, Atlanta Public Schools, and City Schools of Decatur.

"Things like roof repairs, HVAC replacement, school renovations of varying sorts and kinds, technology upgrades — significant technology upgrades, significant transportation equipment upgrades, those sorts of things," said DeKalb County School District Superintendent Norman Sauce.

APS and CSD are included in DeKalb's E-SPLOST because both City Schools of Decatur and a portion of Atlanta Public Schools are in DeKalb County.

The tax is on retail goods and services and is paid by anyone making a purchase in DeKalb County, not just residents.

DeKalb County resident Al Bailey said he isn't a fan of the school board, but still supports E-SPLOST.

"The school board gotta get their act together," Bailey said. "We're wasting too much money on our school board. Our school board, I mean, I don't like it, but it is what it is, but you still need that money for your children."

For DeKalb County, this would be an E-SPLOST renewal. According to the district, E-SPLOST VI was approved by 81 percent of voters in November 2021 and took effect July 1, 2022. If approved, this next round would be E-SPLOST VII.

"This would be a continuation of what the voters have passed, you know, going all the way back to E-SPLOST I, and so it's not anything new or different," Sauce said.

E-SPLOST VI funding has been part of the conversation across the district in recent months.

The district said City Schools of Decatur discovered that it and Atlanta Public Schools had not been receiving their correct share of E-SPLOST VI funds.

During a July school board meeting, Sauce said a certificate of distribution containing the revenue split among all three districts had never been submitted back in 2022.

According to the Sept. 14 DeKalb County school board meeting agenda, the district owed APS $2.9 million and CSD a little more than $9 million.

Sauce said both APS and CSD have since been paid.

"We put measures in place and given specific responsibility to individuals in our finance department to do so, and there won't be any issues with that," Sauce said. "Once E-SPLOST VII passes, we'll certainly have that submitted on time, on deadline, and then we'll be able to guarantee the public that that won't happen again."

Sauce said the Georgia Department of Audits not only looks at the district's overall finances, but the E-SPLOST program as well.

DeKalb resident Faye Garrett supports the E-SPLOST renewal but would like to see more transparency from the district.

"Involve the community a little bit more about how they plan on spending the money, and then you know just have regular meetings informing taxpayers about where the dollars are actually going," Garrett said.

Sauce said the district is also looking to hire a full-time auditor specifically dedicated to the E-SPLOST program.

"We do have an internal department of audits and compliance," Sauce said. "This person, when we identify that person, this full-time auditor just for E-SPLOST programming would reside in that office to help us ensure a daily, regular, full-time commitment of reviewing, monitoring, and auditing our E-SPLOST programming and funding."

E-SPLOST is on the ballot in other metro Atlanta counties, including Fulton and Athens-Clarke.