Cost causes council to rethink survey

By Staff
Staff Reports, Hartselle Enquirer
A plan to mail out questionnaires to area residents concerning a possible tax increase has hit a snag.
Several council members have questioned the need for the survey, which will cost between $3,000-6,000.
That's money some council members feel doesn't need to be spent.
"Right now, it (the survey) is just floating around out there," Mayor Clif Knight said. "There isn't really a time line in place. It was juxtaposed with what some council members wanted."
Knight had hopes to send the survey to residents via their Hartselle Utility bills. The goal was to increase the response to the question of whether voters would support an increase in property taxes to pay for the city's $29 million capital improvement plan.
A previous survey was taken at a city-wide meeting of some 300 residents held earlier this year.
Most of the people attending that meeting said they would not support a tax increase, but city officials said they feel that result was tied to a protest against landfill expansion.
Knight said he did not know if the survey would be sent out in the future.