Just How Much Sales Tax Remitted in Florence Goes to Lauderdale County Schools?

We received a comment that was slightly nebulous. The commenter said (if we understood correctly) that we should check our facts on where Florence tax dollars go. Let's briefly look at sales tax.

If you purchase a retail item, with certain automotive, etc., exceptions, you pay 8.5% in sales tax:

Notice that 1.5% tax is remitted to the county government. Assuming Florence took in one million in sales tax in a given month (and we have no idea of the actual figures), $15,000.00 would be placed in Lauderdale County coffers.

Obviously, much of this money goes to roads and other expenditures beside schools. How much would the Lauderdale school system receive in Florence taxpayer dollars? While we don't have a figure for Lauderdale alone, we have found that in 2010, 27.92% of county school funding came from property and sales tax.

Yet Florence citizens are to have no say over who administers this tax? The Lauderdale school superintendent is working for Florence citizens as much as he/she is working for citizens of Center Star or Grassy or Central Heights.

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A recent commenter in the TimesDaily stated the state's probate judges should fight the closing of mental hospitals as they have gay marriage. Does this commenter really think probate judges have any control over such state hospitals?

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Another TD comment worth considering (be sure to read to the end):

• This is in reference to the $3 million shortfall in the budget this year for Florence. I think what needs to be done is take that $3 million they give UNA, for which they don’t always know what it’s being spent for, and have Dick Jordan go down there and ask for it personally.

Shoalanda