Utility tax could be possible option

 

An ad hoc committee to review instituting a utility tax and other options for increasing county revenue could be named in the next month.

Lawrence County Commissioner Bill Pratt proposed setting up the committee at Thursday’s commission meeting.

Two possible ways to bring in more revenue could be the utility tax or a levy on property owners. With a utility tax, the commission could impose a fee of up to 2 percent of the consumer bills on electric, natural gas and landline telephone.

With a utility tax, consumers could regulate the amount of tax they pay as they regulate their utility use, Pratt said.

Another possible revenue source could be a levy on the ballot to fund the sheriff’s office including the jail operation. Voters, not the commission, would decide if that levy would be imposed on all property owners.

Within the past two years, levies for senior citizens, Collins Career Center renovation and Ironton recreation have been on the ballot with only the vocational school getting voter acceptance.

In other action the commissioners:

• Approved landslide work on County Road 30 and County Road 52;

• Reappointed Kevin Turvey as 2013 apiary inspector at a salary of $2,000;

• Reappointed Commissioner Les Boggs to the Ohio Valley Resource Conservation and Development Board;

• Approved a request by Boy Scout Troop No. 115 for a Chesapeake boat ramp project.