Vocational School Option in the Hands of the People

The Macon County Legislative Body met on June 17 at the City of Lafayette meeting room to approve or deny county business matters. Pictured above at the meeting (facing, l-r) Macon County Sheriff Joey Wilburn, County Clerk Connie Blackwell, County Attorney Guy Holliman, Macon County Mayor Steve Jones, and Administrative Assistant Michelle Day. Photo by M. Green

By Misty Green

The Macon County governing body approved this past Monday night, June 17th to allow Macon County Attorney Guy Holliman to draft a resolution to place the question of a $36 wheel tax increase on the November election ballot, letting the taxpayers decide if they could approve an increased taxes, while also deciding that the fate of TCAT servicing Macon County students through the vocational school program would continue.

However, a consensus view is that once the referendum is placed on the ballot, the people will vote not to proceed.

“I can tell you now, the people will vote ‘no’ after just getting their new property tax rate in the mail,” District 1 Commissioner Phillip Snow said after hearing the loan to build the new vocational school is estimated to cost $18 million, sunsetting after the loan was paid off. Using USDA for funding, the repayment period is typically 33 years, with an option to extend to 38 years based on the borrowers’ income eligibility.

The $36 wheel tax increase will bring in a revenue of $900,000.

Letting the people decide is a just thing to do but for the current Macon County Director of Schools, it is a nightmare brewing for many years.

The uncertain fate of TCAT’s Tri-County Extension Campus also plagued former Director of Schools Tony Boles when back in 2021, he shared a letter from TCAT-Hartsville Director Mae Wright which stated due to much-needed repairs and dwindling enrollment, TCAT’s goal was to pull out of that facility in Red Boiling Springs. Macon County Mayor Steve Jones confirmed that TCAT has given Macon County a 3-to-5-year option for a new vocational school, and that progress had to be in the works during that time frame, which has already begun.

In Franklin, Tennessee the people were asked in a special election whether to vote to build a vocational school for 1,000 students for $286 million, which passed, due to their 50-year-old school building not meeting student needs for today’s high-tech vocational education, supporters of the new school said.

 Jailyn Sewell is a twelve-year-old student starting in the 7th grade at Macon County Junior High School in the fall and said she considered attending the culinary program when she reached high school. 

Learning there was a possibility that the vocational school option could go away if the vote to build the new school failed, she said, “I feel like there will be fewer opportunities to learn useful life skills… I mean, I wouldn’t want to have to pay $136 to register my car to drive when I get to be the driving age, but it is less than $30 something dollars than it is now, and it would be worth it to me and many of my friends who have dreams that vocational school would help us pursue and achieve.”

In other business, during the June 3rd work session meeting the following discussion was heard: District 6 Commissioner Michael Slayton stated there was a $175,000 project going on in Fox Run that Audie Cook had moved money from his fuel line into the Fox Run line… Do you know what road that was… Anyways, I have went down Fox Run, and I looked down every road and there wasn’t a pothole one in Fox Run… the reason I have brought it up is, and I’m not trying to pick on him, it’s just, what’s he going to do with $175,000 down Fox Run when he could have taken that money and paid for his building that he had damages on.”

“That’s a question for the Road Supervision,” Mayor Jones replied, “And he should be here at the next meeting to answer that. “Well, Fox Run looks better than the highway,” Slayton added.

During the 17th meeting, Mr. Audie Cook reported a correction needed to be made, that the road was not on Fox Run Lane, but actually on Deer Park Lane.

During the meeting, it was also discussed that BabyNov, located in Red Boiling Springs has requested to extend the PILOT program (payment in lieu of taxes), which was issued to them as an incentive to bring them here to this county, has been deferred to the decision of the Industrial Development Board.

The next Committee of the Whole meeting is slated for Monday, July 1st at 6:30 p.m. at the City of Lafayette Meeting Room. County government offices will be closed on July 4th, 2024, in observance of Independence Day.