District News Roundup: Atlanta Schools Lose Sales-Tax Decision

The Georgia Supreme Court has struck down an Atlanta arrangement that allowed city officials there to pass sales-tax revenues on to schools.

The decision this month ends a 10-year agreement under which the Atlanta public schools were given 30 percent of the proceeds from a city-imposed sales tax. The revenue-sharing deal violated the state's constitutional requirement that schools can only raise money through local property taxes, the court ruled.

The district now will raise property taxes slightly to compensate for the $18 million in sales-tax proceeds it expected to receive this year, said a spokeswoman. Residents should see little change in their tax bills, however, as the City Council is expected to lower its property taxes to adjust for the larger portion of sales-tax revenues...