ELBERTA - During the November council meeting, Elberta council member Teresa Newton questioned the town’s sales tax. The sales tax in Elberta is set at 11%. Newton said it raised concerns over the ability to bring businesses and revenue into the town.

“In order to see more people come in or businesses come in, isn’t there something we can do besides taxing so high?” she asked. “A lot of people are complaining about paying 11% tax, we are the highest in the state. So I’m bringing this to the table that there’s got to be something that we can do to pull in more revenue.”

Mayor Jim Hamby said that while he can’t speak for every municipality in the state, he knows some within Baldwin County charge 10% sales tax with a 1% fee in certain areas, making them equal to Elberta.

“I just look at the finances and I am just concerned,” Newton said. “We’ve talked about this before, but we can’t even invite somebody in here. We can’t give them any breaks or anything for them to come in, or even help them out like other places do.”

Hamby said that he would be open to listening to any concrete proposals that council may have toward the discussion.