Phenix City-limits administrator says new sales tax

Phenix City-limits Administrator Jimmy Wetzel on Tuesday floated the achievability of abbreviation a anew added sales tax, adage the city-limits has added than abundant acquirement to pay the debt account on the millions of dollars adopted for basic improvement.

City Lath endure year voted to accession the sales tax from 8 percent to 8.75 percent to advice accounts a cord of abiding projects, which cover affairs for a new borough center. But Wetzel, who faces two opponents in the Aug. 28 borough election, fabricated the tax backpack complete like abstract Tuesday night, adage the access has concluded up accounting for about $3.4 actor a year -- about $2 actor added than what is appropriate to pay the debt service.

"The city-limits can pay those debts off aboriginal with that added amount," Wetzel said afore a arranged Central High Academy auditorium, "or the city-limits could, if it chose, abate the sales tax aback down to a bottom amount."

Wetzel, who has controlled a three-vote majority on City-limits Lath the accomplished four years, was acclamation one of the added advancing issues of his aboriginal term. Lath again has fatigued criticism for demography desperate accomplishments afore appraisal accessible sentiment.

Wetzel was a part of 20 candidates for lath and the mayor's appointment who addressed a well-attended appointment hosted by the Concerned Citzens Committee.

Wetzel initially banned to appear Tuesday's event, adage he advancing a "partisan ambush" from a grass-roots alignment that has fabricated no abstruse of its anti-incumbent bent.

Unlike a boondocks anteroom affair a anniversary ago at Gaines Chapel AME Church, the administrator at-large did not appoint the admirers and stood with his amateur adverse the adjudicator if he answered her questions.

He aswell drew far beneath acclaim than amateur Chris Blackshear, who was speaking to some of his a lot of agog supporters.

To anticipate citizens from getting larboard in the aphotic on beefy decisions, Steve Bailey, a District 1 lath candidate, laid out his plan to acquaint an anniversary boondocks anteroom meeting.

He likened it to an alternate adaptation of the president's Accompaniment of the Union address.

The aim, he said, is for citizens to accretion acumen into the city's banking accompaniment and accept an befalling to ask questions of councilmembers and the ambassador about the city's direction.

"You charge to apperceive whether you're absolute or abrogating in what you're doing," Bailey said, "and if you're accomplishing what the humans ambition you to accomplish."

Some candidates aswell were asked about their angle on accumulation city-limits and canton government, an abstraction that has been discussed for years in the adumbration of Columbus' alliance with Muscogee County.

"I ambition it were possible," said Norman K. Cook, addition District 1 candidate.

Cook said the arduous admeasurement of the canton would absolute the city's adeptness to accommodate services.

But he said alliance is about "worth searching into."

Meanwhile, Billy Ray Alexander, a applicant for District 2, abutting the choir calling for an adopted city-limits academy lath to alter the appointed architecture now in place, adage it would access accountability.