County Mayor Jim Coppinger said Tuesday he is moving on from an effort to get the county to receive a share of the state sales tax.
He said, "I and the mayors of the Hamilton County Small Cities Coalition agree that no changes should be made in this legislative session of the General Assembly."
The county mayor, who got stiff opposition on the proposal from Mayor Andy Berke and mayors of other smaller towns, added,“I have initiated conversations on the state shared sales tax issue and never formally proposed written legislation on this matter. Hamilton County is better served when we all work together. These mayors represent cities of Hamilton County, and their constituents are my constituents. There was never any intent to harm our communities and we have moved on from this issue.”
He said he and Senator Bo Watson met in early December with the mayors and city managers of the Coalition. During the two-hour meeting, it was agreed that the cities and County Mayor Coppinger "should join forces to work toward long-term corrections to the state revenue flowing back to cities and counties," it was stated.
“Mayor Coppinger showed great leadership in the meeting,” said Collegedale Mayor Katie Lamb on behalf of the Coalition. “We agree that cities and counties deserve a bigger share of state revenues and that we will work together going forward to try and make that happen.”
Mayor Lamb said in 1947 when the state shared sales tax was implemented, cities and counties received an 80-20 split of state revenues while today that percentage has decreased to a 91-9 split.
County Mayor Coppinger said, “With Senator Watson’s influential position regarding state finances, I think this is the right time to examine all state revenue streams coming back to cities and counties and hopefully find a way to increase funding to counties that provide state-mandated services and to cities that are the economic engines of the state.”