White County GOP endorses repeal of freeport

CLEVELAND - The White County Republican Party has announced they are joining the efforts to repeal the freeport tax in White County.

At the party's monthly meeting Monday, party member Josh Turner noted that White County is one of only 17 counties in the state and one of three in northeast Georgia (Towns and Rabun are the others) that have some form of the tax. The tax is collected on business inventory.

"It's time to repeal the tax and make the county more attractive for businesses to locate here, to affect our tax digest, to improve our school system and to make a positive change," Party Chair Rebecca Yarbrough said.

"We had that opportunity 15 years ago and the citizens of the county didn't think it was time then, but the White County Republican Party believes it is, and we are willing to put our money where out mouth is and take and use the resources we have to effectively promote this endeavor," Yarbrough added.

The White County Chamber of Commerce voted earlier to support repeal efforts.

Also during the meeting, attendees talked about the upcoming charter school amendment.

Rich Thompson, with 100 Dads, and Kelly Gary, Chairman of the Jackson County GOP, spoke in favor of the amendment.

Speaking against the amendment were Kendyl Brock-Hunter, Chairman White County Board of Education and Dr. Jeff Wilson, White County School Superintendent.

Thompson told the group the measure is needed to level the playing field for those wishing to set up a charter school and help improve the quality of education in the state.

"It's going to cost money to implement this, and I think the system we have works, we already have charter schools," Wilson said.