By John West
On Monday evening, the LaFayette City Council voted to suspend its rules in order to vote on the 1¢ sales tax increase. The vote failed 4-2. Councilmembers Mangram, Hunter, and Ellis, along with Mayor Vines all voted for the suspension. Councilmembers Thomas and Williams were the dissenting votes. If the vote had been unanimous, the Council could have moved forward and voted on the 1¢ sales tax increase.
The city council vote will come up again at its Feb 28 meeting.
City Attorney Joseph “Mac” Tucker suggested the rules suspension after adjustments were made to reflect needed changes in the tax ordnance. The last time the city sales tax was increased, a blanket “across the board tax” was used on all items.
This time certain items were given a lower rate instead: The primary sales tax will be 5%; the heavy machinery tax went down to 2%; the amusement tax, according to Tucker, is 5%. Additionally, this version of the ordinance would have had an effective date of March 1, but was changed to April 1. Taxes would be due by May 20. While the City Council voted to pass these changes it did not have to be unanimous. Thomas was the lone dissenting vote.