Meals tax may help keep school open

By JIM TALBERT\Staff
TAZEWELL – Eating out in Tazewell County could help pay for children’s education in the future.
The board of supervisors voted 4-1 April 1 to seek a referendum to impose a 5 percent meals tax on county restaurants. The voters would get their say on the tax sometime this summer.
Supervisor Mike Hymes, who filed the motion, said the money would be committed to education. Hymes said it could be used to cover pay raises for teachers or pay for school renovations.
He did ask that the school board consider using a portion of the money to subsidize keeping Pocahontas High School open for two years. Supervisor Seth White, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said he was not against the meals tax.
White said he objected to giving the people of the northern district false hope that the school would remain open. The school board has the final say on operation of schools and would be under no obligation to keep the school open.
The school system has already notified employees of Pocahontas High School that they will not be returning to their current positions next year. They have also started visitation programs at Tazewell and Graham High School for Pocahontas students, who are deciding where they want to go to school next year.
The referendum would have to be ordered by the circuit judge and the vote would be held no sooner than 60 days after the order was entered. Virginia election law does not allow referendum’s to be on primary ballots, calling for them to either be part of the regular election or a special election.
Hymes indicated he wanted the issue resolved no later than August, meaning there would have to be a special election. County Registrar Debbie Barrett estimated a special election would cost the county between $20,000 and $22,000.
The board instructed County attorney Eric Young to begin the necessary work to request a court order for the election. Young said last week he was preparing the order and the question.
He said a definite date for the election would probably not be decided until mid April because there is a possibility of another primary election in June. The deadline for the Democrats and Republicans to let the state board of elections know their intentions is April 16.
Hymes asked that the election be held before Aug. 1. Since state code requires a minimum of 60 days before the election and it can’t be less than 60 days from the general election the vote would likely take place in a period between mid June and late July.

That would place the likely time for a vote on the question