By Fred Guarino

The Lowndes Signal

 

Effective Thursday, Aug. 1, taxes in Lowndes County will be adjusted to collect amounts that were supposed to have been collected, but which were not, when a recalculation was done for the Lowndes County Board of Education.

According to information provided by Revenue Discovery Systems (RDS), a copy of which was sent to Signal by County Commissioner W. Dickson Farrior and which Commission Administrator Jackie Thomas verified, the changes to take effect are as follows:

County sales, general, amusement and vending tax remain at 4 percent.

However, in the sales and use taxes in manufacturing and farm categories will increase one-half percent from 1.5 to 2 percent; auto sales and use taxes will increase .10 percent from .3 to .4 percent; and the general use tax will go from 3 to 4 percent.

Thomas said the reason for the adjustment is that a 1-cent tax put on by the county before the jail was constructed was left off when a recalculation was done to collect a shortfall to the Lowndes County Board of Education.

Yolanda Watkins of RDS explained that the general sales tax such as when a person buys a soda would remain the same 4 percent to the county and the state, plus whatever sales tax the city where the purchase was made had on.

She said one selling a car will only pay the auto rate and farm equipment will pay that rate.

Thomas explained that county sales taxes were recalculated due to an error with funds going to the board of education. She said there were a 1-cent sales tax for the jail and a 1-cent sales tax for the industrial park.

“Both sales tax were put on in the exact same deal. When the redistribution was done the 1-cent for the jail was left off,” Thomas said.

She said the recalculation was done last year to correct the distribution of sales taxes to the board of education.