City Commission

JOINT CITY/COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING Tuesday, August 5, 2025 9:00 a.m. The City of Rome and Floyd County Commissions met in a joint session at 9:00 a.m. this date in the Fire Administration Center, 409 East 12th Street, Rome, GA. All nine City Commissioners and all five County Commissioners (Allison Watters, Rhonda Wallace, Scotty Hancock, Mike Burnes, and David Thornton) were present. Also present for the City of Rome were City Manager Sammy Rich, Assistant City Manager Meredith Ulmer, and City Attorney Andy Davis. County Manager Jamie McCord, Assistant County Manager and Finance Director Susie Gass, County Clerk Lauren Chumbler, and County Attorney Chris Jackson were present. There were other City and County staff members present and approximately twenty-five citizens in attendance. David Thornton delivered the prayer and led in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor McDaniel and County Chair Watters welcomed everyone and made brief comments regarding the purpose of this meeting. The objective of the meeting is to discuss House Bill 581 and the option for the city and the county to call a referendum for the November 4, 2025, election regarding a Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST). This sales tax, if adopted, would implement an extra one cent of sales tax to be used entirely for the relief of property taxes. County Manager Jamie McCord spoke first and presented a PowerPoint summary and history of Education Local Option Sales Tax and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Mr. McCord commented on the homestead freeze that has been in place for city and county taxes for many years. He also mentioned the homestead freeze that will apply to school taxes beginning in 2025. The FLOST that was created with House Bill 581 allows local governments to enact an extra tax up to one cent for a period not to exceed five years. This proposal is required to be approved by the voters at a public referendum, after an intergovernmental agreement has been reached regarding the distribution of the extra sales tax revenue. It was reported that only two of Georgia’s 159 counties have already sent this item to the ballot for the public’s approval (March 2025). Since the City of Cave Spring does not have property taxes, they would not be eligible to participate in the FLOST revenue. If this item is placed on the November ballot and it is approved, the additional tax would begin in January 2026. House Bill 581 specifies that property tax relief is based on the prior year’s sales tax collections. With that requirement, the property tax relief would not be realized until the 2027 tax bills. Mr. McCord continued his presentation, reminding the group that city residents pay county taxes, and a city resident would realize the same dollar savings regardless of the SPLOST split. Mr. McCord noted that an argument could be made that 100% of the new sales tax revenue should be given to the county so both city and county residents could realize the same level of savings. Mr. McCord’s proposal today is that this new FLOST revenue be split 75% to Floyd County and 25% to the City of Rome. Mr. McCord’s presentation stated that, with this split, both the city and the county would realize a similar millage rate percentage reduction. McCord also stated that even under this 75/25 plan, city residents would receive a full dollar of credit for each dollar of new sales tax revenue, while a county resident would only recent seventy-five cents for each new dollar of sales tax revenue. City Manager Sammy Rich presented next and expressed the city’s proposal of a 60% county to 40% city split. The current Local Option Sale Tax split sends 53% to Floyd County, 45.2% to the City of Rome, and 1.8% to City of Cave Spring. Mr. Rich noted that the 2020 Census indicates that approximately 38.25% of Floyd County’s population resides inside the City of Rome. The 2025 tax digest indicates that approximately 39% of the county property values are located inside the city limits of Rome. Mr. Rich also commented on the expense the City of Rome incurs associated with our daytime population, many of whom are unincorporated county residents. The city and county are under the impression that 30-40% of all sales tax generated inside Floyd County is paid by persons who live outside of the county. If the FLOST is eventually realized, that savings will be shown on each property owner’s property tax bill (currently Local Option Sales Tax revenue is shown as a sales tax credit or rollback on tax bills). With the manager’s presentation concluded, there was discussion among the commissioners concerning this topic. Both City and County Commissioners agreed that they must come to an agreement regarding an intergovernmental agreement so that this item could be placed on the ballot for the voters to address. The position of Floyd County is that the FLOST revenue is different than LOST revenue. Mr. Hancock noted that the unchecked rise in property assessment values is what led to House Bill 581. Mayor McDaniel feels that a 75/25 split would not appeal to city voters and Ms. Watters feels that a 60/40 split would not appeal to county voters. Commissioner Doss raised the question regarding the deadline for this intergovernmental agreement. County Attorney Chris Jackson stated that, while the Secretary of State’s office has been somewhat nebulous on this matter, the most secure plan is for this referendum call to be made ninety days before the November 4th election. In order for the ninety-day window to be satisfied, an intergovernmental agreement must be developed today. Jackson added that there is some feeling that only a thirty-day call requirement would ultimately be needed. Commissioner Cochran expressed concern that if this new sales tax goes into effect January 2026, the property owners will not see their savings until the fall of 2027. He suggested it may be more beneficial to wait and consider this question at the May 2026 primary election with an implementation date of July 2026. Under that scenario, six months’ savings would be realized on the 2027 tax bills. There was further discussion by City and County Commissioners regarding the sales tax split and other factors regarding this topic. Mayor McDaniel suggested a compromise between the city and the county’s positions. County Manager McCord stated that the county was not willing to deviate from their 75/25 split position. Since there seemed to be no willingness to negotiate on the two positions, the meeting was adjourned at 10:25 a.m. Joseph F. Smith City Clerk 2