The Greene County Board of Supervisors are regrouping after a special election that failed to change the revenue purpose statement for the rural Local Option Sales and Services Tax (LOSST) funds.

Supervisor Chair John Muir says the Board wanted to change the revenue purpose statement in order to use the one cent sales tax on goods and services within Greene County on not only property tax relief, which is currently what LOSST is used for, but also to pay for part of an HVAC project to the Greene County Courthouse. 

“It’s one of those things that we’re going to have to invest (in the courthouse). Our hope is not to have to raise property taxes or anything to get that money. Well if we can use the Local Option Sales (and Services) Tax money for that purpose, we avoid any influence on property taxes, or very little. So that was our main goal.”    

The unincorporated county residents voted down the measure 88 no votes to 73 yes, to change the LOSST revenue purpose statement to “any lawful purpose” from “100% property tax relief and any lawful purpose.” 

Muir says one main reason to push for this measure to be on the ballot now is because there is an expiration date for the $1.8 million of the American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) of federal funds the county received during the covid pandemic to mitigate the disease, the Board tabbed that to help pay part of the $3.2 million HVAC project. The APRA funds will be taken away by 2026. County Auditor Billie Jo Hoskins says the county would use the additional funds that the county receives from LOSST funds, after continuing to pay Secondary Roads and the sheriff’s office for a new vehicle annually, those other funds would be used to pay back a loan for the other portion of the HVAC project. 

Muir admits that he believes the change failed because the Board didn’t do enough publicizing efforts to get information to voters, prior to the election. He anticipates the Board putting the issue back before the rural voters in the upcoming November general election.