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March 18, 2010

Hearing on Warrior tax issue postponed

By Melanie Patterson The North Jefferson News

WARRIOR — Warrior and Blount County residents will have to wait a little longer for a decision regarding a sales tax dispute.

A preliminary hearing  has been postponed in Blount County Circuit Court regarding the City of Warrior’s attempt to collect a police jurisdiction sales tax from certain businesses in Blount County. The hearing was originally set for Tuesday. 

A spokeswoman with Blount County Circuit Court Judge Steven King’s office said Tuesday she could not discuss why the hearing was postponed. King did not return calls by press time.

However, Blount County District Attorney Tommy Rountree said Monday that King postponed the hearing because the matter could possibly be resolved soon by constitutional amendment.

“He (King) indicated he saw no need on having a hearing when it appeared the Legislature was going to resolve the biggest part of this issue within the next few days,” Rountree said.

State Rep. Elwyn Thomas, R-34, has reportedly introduced a bill into the legislature that would allow the Town of Hayden to annex non-contiguous property into its city limits. Thomas was unavailable for comment and did not return calls by press time.

Rountree said the bill could come out of committee and possibly pass as early as next week.

An amendment that the Warrior City Council adopted on Dec. 7, 2009, allows the city to collect a 1.5-percent sales tax only from businesses in unincorporated areas within a mile and a half of Warrior’s city limit.

Businesses that annex into Hayden would be exempt from the tax.

In protest to Warrior’s adoption of the resolution, Blount County property owners have filed petitions to have 420 tracts annexed into Hayden.

Warrior Mayor Rena Hudson said Judge King delayed the hearing in part so everyone can examine the annexation map.

“It will let us know what businesses are agreeable to annex into Hayden,” she said, and thus which businesses are not subject to the Warrior sales tax.

“We’ve really tried to cooperate with Hayden,” Hudson said, adding that the annexations would “help Warrior because we won’t cross lines.”

She said the annexations would be beneficial to Hayden and that she’s happy to see Hayden prosper.

In addition to the annexation attempts, Blount County residents are enforcing a boycott of all Warrior businesses. At least one business, Jones Cleaners, has closed, due in part to the boycott, according to the owners.

According to Rountree, Judge King is scheduled to set a new date today for the preliminary injunction and also possibly set a date for collection of the sales tax in Blount County.

Warrior was originally supposed to start collecting the sales tax in March (from February sales), but agreed before Judge King in January to postpone the date of collection to April 1.

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