The exemption, which does not apply to collections for Richmond County Board of Education or the new transportation sales tax, came with a built-in alternative: the option for local governments to levy a new excise tax on energy used in manufacturing to replace the lost revenue.
When they meet at 4 p.m. today, making a state deadline to levy the excise tax in January, officials from Augusta, Hephzibah and Blythe will have little but anecdotal information on how much the exemption will cut into the local option sales taxes and special-purpose local option sales taxes paid by local manufacturers.
Click here to continue reading.







