Dublin City Board of Education joins Laurens County in call for sales tax referendum

The Dublin City Board of Education voted Monday to approve a joint resolution with the county schools calling for a referendum in November on whether to extend the current one-cent sales tax for schools.

The current ESPLOST (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) is not set to expire until fall 2027, but officials expect it to reach its revenue cap at least a month ahead of schedule. The Dublin district eventually plans to use sales tax proceeds to build a new elementary school, while the county has more pressing needs, city school Superintendent Fred Williams said.

“The county does not need that tax be interrupted because they have (bond) debt,” Williams said. “We don’t have any debt.”

The Laurens County Board of Education, which also plans to build a new East Laurens Elementary, approved the joint resolution in early July. However, the city school board postponed a vote on the measure on four occasions – including initially Monday night – but board members called for a vote once the meeting reopened after an executive session.

“The board wanted to go ahead and take care of it,” Williams said.

The joint resolution calls for the referendum to be on the ballot Nov. 4.

According to the resolution, the county school board plans to use almost $10 million to retire an existing general obligation debt, while also using the sales tax to build and equip the new East Laurens Elementary, a new athletic complex at East Laurens Middle and a new multipurpose athletic building for West Laurens High. The county school board also voted to put a bond referendum on November’s ballot, which if approved will allow the district to build now and pay later by borrowing against future sales tax collections. 

The Dublin school board includes a new elementary school as one of its projects in the resolution, along with renovations and improvements to existing school buildings and facilities, a multi-purpose athletic facility and improvements to existing athletic facilities.

The new elementary school, estimated at a current cost of about $30 million, would be built on school-owned property behind Dublin Middle School and would replace Hillcrest Elementary. Williams, who described plans for the project as “very preliminary,” said Hillcrest would be “repurposed.”

The tax also can be used to buy other items, such as buses and instructional materials, but it cannot be used to pay salaries and operating expenses.

If passed, the new tax would begin on Oct. 1, 2027 – or at the termination of the current educational sales tax – and would raise no more than $95 million. As proposed in the joint resolution, the revenue would be split between the two school districts according to student enrollment, as of October 2025. Under the latest enrollment numbers, Laurens County would receive about 72.5 percent of the tax, or about $68.8 million, and Dublin would get up to approximately $21.6 million, or 27.5 percent.

City school officials expect their share to grow when October enrollment numbers are released.

“We’ve had an increase in enrollment while theirs has declined some,” Williams said.

After working out details of the resolution, city and county officials now must together to get the referendum passed. Williams commended county school Superintendent Clifford Garnto, who is retiring at the end of the year, for his work on the resolution.

“I enjoyed working with Mr. Garnto. He’s been a great colleague.”