New Sales Tax In Abbeville Begins Today

Last May voters in Abbeville did something that a lot of voters don't do. They voted for an increase in their city's sales tax. The reason that tax increase was needed was to fund raises for city employees and to provide a bit of a cushion for additional expenditures that come up in the course of running a local government.

Today, October 1st, that half a cent sales tax will go into effect. While half a cent may not sound like much at first blush, when you add all of those "half cents" together it turns into what most of us would describe as "real money".

That "real money" translates to about $1.4 million. See what I mean?

City officials in Abbeville, the Mayor and City Council, will be meeting in the coming weeks and months to appropriate where those raises for city employees will fall. Naturally, there will be debate and discussion so if you've got an opinion on the matter you might want to find yourself in a city council meeting between now and January.

January is when the new fiscal year begins for Abbeville and city fathers hope to have their plans to implement expenditures funded by the new sales tax in place long before then.

By the way, if you were wondering the tax rate in Abbeville is now 10.45%. If I understand the math correctly that means a little more than a dime from every dollar spent in the city is going to taxes of some kind. Let's hope those taxes are used to improve the quality of life for the people that live there.