The Chelsea City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to increase the sales tax levied on behalf of the city from 4% to 5%. There was no public comment before the motion to approve ordinance was voted on by the council.
Mayor Tony Picklesimer said that the opposition to this increase from the public hearing at the last meeting had merit and did not go unheard, but he couldn't simply do nothing.
“When making this decision, it boiled down to three choices: create a property tax, increase the sales tax or simply do nothing," he said. "Since 49.7% of students in Chelsea schools do not live in the city limits, a property tax is not fair. We took all these into consideration, and doing nothing was simply not an option looking forward.”
With the passing of the increase, Picklesimer introduced the educational grant plan called the Nick Program that will be offered to all five of the Chelsea schools, to every teacher and administrator in the school system.
“It’s named after a dad (who asked to remain anonymous) who emailed me when I first announced the proposal for the sales tax increase saying that it sounded like a sports tax to him, that a lot of the projects had to do with sports” Picklesimer said. “That hit me between the eyes.”
Leah Ingram Eagle
Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer
Picklesimer said he has met with educators and put this grant program together that will allow them to apply for anything they need. The applications will be reviewed by a three-person grant committee, of which Nick (who the program is named after) will serve on.
The money from the tax increase will go into a separate account designated for school purposes and only be spent with the approval of the city council. The expected revenue from the one cent sales tax increase would be $125,000 per month and $1.5 million per year.
“It’s been very hard on the city council to take this stand and voting tonight took courage on their behalf,” Picklesimer said. “I look forward to the many things we can do with this money for our five schools.
The increase will go into effect October 1 and have an end date of September 30, 2025.
Also during the meeting, the mayor read a proclamation declaring September as Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month.
Other resolutions passed include:
- approval for a retail beer and wine license for Central Alabama Management, LLC (transfer of ownership of the local Chevron station)
- annexation of .61 acres at 310 Country Manor Road
- annexation of 8 acres at 1607 Highway 440
- annexation of 20 acres at 336 Old Oak Cove
The next city council meeting will be held August 20 with pre-council at 5 p.m. and regular meeting at 6 p.m. Following the meeting will be a Chelsea Comprehensive Plan meeting from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and the public is welcome to give their input on where they’d like to see Chelsea in the next 10 years.