Whitfield County resident Jevin Jensen asks members of the Dalton City Council to remove $4 million to buy land for a new school before approving a bond resolution for Dalton Public Schools.

DALTON, Ga. — Saying they did not believe voters realized money from the March 2017 Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) would be used to buy land for a new sixth- and seventh-grade school, members of the Dalton City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday to table a resolution to ask the Dalton Building Authority to issue $18.2 million in bonds that would be repaid from that ESPLOST.

Some $4 million of that would have been used to buy land for the school. The rest would have been used to fund repairs at Brookwood School and City Park School and to buy new technology.

In the council’s work session before the meeting, Board of Education Chairman Rick Fromm told council members that a donation of 38.1 acres across the North Bypass from Dalton Middle School from Hammond Creek Captial for the new school was contingent on the school system buying another 25 acres for the school.

“The ballot referendum spelled out some projects, and (the new school) wasn’t one of them,” said council member Gary Crews. “It may have been in the small print, it may have been implied that this is how that money could be used. But it wasn’t explicit about that. Voters have expressed that concern to me, and I believe that other council members have heard that as well.”

Dalton voters will vote on a separate $50 million bond referendum on Nov. 7. If approved, that money will be used to build the new 6/7 school.

During public comments, Jevin Jensen asked council members to remove the $4 million from the ESPLOST bonds and wait to see if voters approve that referendum. Council members said that is what they want the school board to do.

During the council’s work session, Fromm and school board member Steve Laird said the board would not buy land until voters approve that referendum. Fromm said that if the referendum is not approved the school board would use the $4 million for other projects.

But council members said they were not swayed by those claims.

“We didn’t have anything in writing to guarantee that. It’s always important to get things in writing,” said council member Denise Wood.

Mayor Dennis Mock typically votes only in the event of a tie, but he said he agreed with the decision of the other council members.

“Tabling the motion allows the school board to come back with a proposal that removes that $4 million,” he said.

Laird said after the meeting that if that is what the council wants, he believes the school board will come back with a new ESPLOST bond proposal.

Interim Superintendent Don Amonett said he believes the school system can have a proposal ready by the next council meeting in two weeks.

Council members also voted 4-0 to allow Dalton Utilities to issue $75 million in bonds to fund capital maintenance deferred during the Great Recession.

CEO Tom Bundros said the city would not be liable for repaying the bonds but they would have an impact on the utility’s water customers.

“That’s where most of the work will be done,” he said.

Bundros said that the utility is looking at a four- to five-year phased-in program of rate increases to pay off the bonds. He said the rate increases would average 3 to 4 percent a year.

Council members said they were confident with those plans.

“Our water rates are more than competitive. I don’t think these increases will be large, and that work has to be done,” said Wood.

Mock said the utility cannot afford to continue to delay maintenance.

“If you wait too long problems can develop that can be really expensive to address,” he said.

Council members also voted 3-1 to hold the city’s property tax rate steady at 2.506 mills. That rate will bring in more revenue this year than last year, $8.76 million compared to $8.45 million, so it is a tax increase under state law.

Crews was the sole vote against the tax rate. He said he would have preferred to roll it back.

“I’m concerned about the city’s business climate and what impact this might have on small business. I’m concerned about our homeowners,” he said. 

Wood said she considered voting to roll back the rate, but she said after nine straight years of tax cuts she doesn’t think the city can cut anymore.

“We’ve delayed a lot of maintenance during that time, and we are going to use the additional money to try to catch up on that,” she said.