Albany and Dougherty County Commissioners are debating whether to tax local manufacturers to help balance their budgets.
Manufacturers in Georgia recently got a break when lawmakers decided to phase out the state sales tax on energy use over four years. The goal- to save industries millions of dollars a year and make Georgia more attractive to large industries.
But now counties and cities across the state are trying to decide whether to implement a 2% excise tax on energy use by manufacturers to make up for lost revenue.
"Obviously the impact is going to be to manufacturers, because where they might have anticipated getting over the course of four years a full 6% reduction on the sales tax, they in fact would get 4% and then be paying 2% on the energy excise tax," said Dave Wills, the Government Relations Manger for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.
And some are calling it a double edged sword, saying if they don't implement this tax, the money will have to come from somewhere else.
"The manufacturers and the energy people, who use a lot of energy are not having to pay taxes, but if we're going to keep our budgets intact and provide the services that we need to provide, then somebody is going to have to pay for it. So then that means that the public and taxpayers are adversely impacted by this," said Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard.
The question is how much money will this tax bring in? Right now that's still an unknown.
"We don't have a real good sense of how much it is. We think it could be between one and two million dollars, which would be a big chunk of money and a huge hole in our budget if we don't do it, we do know that," said Gloria Gaines, Dougherty County Commissioner.
The county has to wait thirty days before making a decision. If they do, the city has the option of joining in as well through an intergovernmental agreement. The county would then split the revenue with the city.
Monday's meeting was required by law. Commissioners asked the county attorney to gather more information and draft an agreement to implement this tax, but the final decisions will be made later.
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