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Athens-Clarke County elections board votes to place FLOST, ELOST and special BOE District 8 election on Nov. 3 ballot
Summary
The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections & Voter Registration on June 16 unanimously approved motions to include a five-year FLOST question, an ELOST continuation question, and a special Board of Education District 8 election on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot; qualifying dates and fees for the special election were set.
The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections & Voter Registration on June 16 voted unanimously to place three items on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot: a five-year Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST) question, a one-percent Education Local Option Sales Tax (ELOST) continuation question, and a special election for Board of Education District 8.
On a motion by Member Doug Yarn and seconded by Secretary Ann Till, the board approved including the FLOST question after noting a resolution passed June 9 by the Mayor and Commission and an intergovernmental agreement among Athens, Winterville and Bogart to impose a 1% sales and use tax for five years to provide property tax relief. The motion passed unanimously.
The board also approved, on a motion by Yarn and seconded by Member Willa Fambrough, including the ELOST continuation question on the Nov. 3 ballot. The Board of Education had passed its resolution on June 16; the ELOST measure will ask voters whether to continue the 1% education sales and use tax for the Clarke County School District.
Separately, the board approved placing a special election for Board of Education District 8 on the Nov. 3 ballot to fill an unexpired term after the current officeholder resigned. The board set candidate qualifying for Aug. 19 beginning at 9:00 a.m. through Aug. 21 at noon and established a $108 qualifying fee. The motion to add the special election was moved by Yarn and seconded by Fambrough and passed unanimously.
All three motions were recorded as approved without objection by the four members in attendance: Vice-Chair Lisa Riley, Secretary Ann Till, Member Willa Fambrough and Member Doug Yarn. No public comments were heard on these items during the meeting.
The decisions set the ballot for Nov. 3 and begin administrative steps for candidate qualifying and public information; the board noted the intergovernmental and Board of Education resolutions that prompted the ballot items but did not amend or rehear those underlying agreements at this meeting.
