By Lee Weyhrich
Staff writer
Pinson City Councilman Joe Cochran presented the first reading of an ordinance to increase sales tax to help pay for additional police at the council’s scheduled meeting Thursday night. Currently, the city has a two percent tax making the total tax on most items eight percent within the city. The increase would bring Pinson up to 10 percent, average with most other surrounding cities.
No decision has yet been made regarding the tax increase nor the future of law enforcement in the city, although several options have been suggested.
The council voted to renew the contract with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for continued enhanced police service for another year. This is the same contract the council renewed last year and is in no way a reflection of how the council might vote on the police issue, Mayor Hoyt Sanders stated.
According to councilman Cochran, even if the council did decide to go with a city police force, it would take two years to get it running. In the meantime, even if a decision were made to begin a municipal force, the city would continue to use the sheriff’s department until the new force could be operational.
At a public hearing earlier in August, members of the community said they would favor a sales tax increase for more police protection. The council can now vote on the sales tax increase without discussion at their next council meeting since the first reading has taken place.
Part of the sales tax money would go to renovations at the Rock School site as well under Cochran’s original plan.
In other city business:
- The Community Center building will be receiving a makeover. The council unanimously awarded a contract to Ace Painting Co., Inc. of Pinson to prep and paint walls, trim, doors and kitchen cabinets on the inside as well as pressure wash the outside of the building and do some painting there as well. The bid was for $4,450.
- Building Specialties Company Inc. also won a bid to replace doors at the facility for $393.00. The company also won a bid for $984.00 to replace doors at the Rock School Center.
- The Christmas parade will feature something a little different this year. In celebration of the bicentennial, decedents of some of the original founders of the community will dress in period garb and ride a float in their ancestors’ memory.
- The council also unanimously voted to annex five more properties into the city.