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Thursday,
September 02, 2010
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| | Email this article • Print this article | Voters say 'yes' to tax, 'no' to liquor sales
By Ashley Smith
Staff Writer
LAWRENCEVILLE - Thanks to 1,557 Lawrence County voters, area school districts will receive a much-needed financial boost from the County School Facility Occupation Tax.
The victory was not an easy one for Unit 20 and Unit 10 school districts. As the number of reporting precincts changed, so did the outcome of the proposed referendum question. It wasn't until half of the 27 precincts reported before the sales tax had clearly clenched the win.
Unofficial totals were in favor of the tax with 1,557 votes, compared to the 1,385 against it.
Lawrence County's sales tax will now be raised from 6.25 percent to 7.25 percent on a majority of general merchandise sales. These sales do not include the following:
• Food and other grocery items that are currently taxed at only 1 percent in Illinois;
• Prescription drugs and other medical supplies also taxed at only 1 percent in Illinois;
• Licensed and titled vehicles; and
• All items that are currently sales tax exempt including services, farm inputs and machinery, items purchased for resale, etc.
Proceeds from this new tax will be distributed to all public schools that have students residing in Lawrence County on a per-pupil basis and will be used for school capital purposes only. Unit 20 expects to receive 55 percent of these funds, with the majority of remaining funds to go to Unit 10.
The new tax is slated to go into effect this summer.
Two of Lawrence County's 27 precincts were asked whether or not to prohibit the sale of alcohol at 224 South Christy Avenue in Sumner.
In Christy 8, the vote was split down the middle with 51 votes both for and against the prohibition. Voters in Christy 9 elected to prohibit the liquor sales, 65 votes to 41 votes.
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