Buford City Schools sues Hall over failure to pay ESPLOST funds. Hall says it's not paying

Nov. 18—Update: Buford City Schools filed a lawsuit Friday against Hall County Schools, demanding $1.64 million in damages and alleging that the school system neglected to pay its fair share of money it received from an education sales tax.

Buford City Schools accuses Hall School Schools of breaching an agreement signed by former Gov. Nathan Deal on March 15, 2016, which requires Hall County Schools, Gainesville City Schools and Buford City Schools to divide revenue from the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, calculated based on student enrollment.

ESPLOST is a penny sales tax on retail purchases allocated among the three school districts.

The lawsuit names Hall County Superintendent Will Schofield and Finance Officer Jonathan Boykin as the defendants, accusing them of having "refused to perform their ministerial and/or discretionary duties in remitting payment to the (Buford City Schools) for ESPLOST V proceeds per the Intergovernmental Agreement and special law."

Buford City Schools says it sent an invoice for $1.64 million to Hall County Schools on Sept. 16.

"In the ensuing two months," the lawsuit says, Boykin "advised no payment was forthcoming without any explanation, question, or objection to said calculation."

"Other attempts to inquire of HCSD as to the status of this matter have gone unanswered," the lawsuit continues.

Phillip Beard, chairman of the Buford school board, said Hall County paid half of the money it owes in ESPLOST revenues but is withholding the other half. Beard said Buford has about 1,000 students who live in Hall County.

"I don't know why they don't want to pay it," Beard said. "Are they out of money?"

Schofield said Buford is demanding more money than its owed under the terms of the intergovernmental agreement.

Schofield said Buford has about 500 students who don't live in the city but who pay tuition to attend Buford schools, which excludes them from any calculation for determining ESPLOST revenue. In other words, he said, Buford's ESPLOST revenues should be calculated based on a student headcount closer to 500, not 1,000.

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Previous story: Buford City Schools filed a lawsuit Friday against Hall County Schools, demanding $1.64 million in damages and alleging that the school system neglected to pay its fair share of money it received from an education sales tax.

Buford City Schools accuses Hall School Schools of breaching an agreement signed by former Gov. Nathan Deal on March 15, 2016, which requires Hall County Schools, Gainesville City Schools and Buford City Schools to divide ESPLOST revenues based on a "more accurate" count of student enrollment.

ESPLOST is a penny sales tax on retail purchases allocated among the three school districts.

The lawsuit names Hall County Superintendent Will Schofield and Finance Officer Jonathan Boykin as the defendants, accusing them of having "refused to perform their ministerial and/or discretionary duties in remitting payment to the BCSD for ESPLOST V proceeds per the Intergovernmental Agreement and special law."

Buford City Schools says it sent an invoice for $1.64 million to Hall County Schools on Sept. 16.

"In the ensuing two months," the lawsuit says, Boykin "advised no payment was forthcoming without any explanation, question, or objection to said calculation." "Other attempts to inquire of HCSD as to the status of this matter have gone unanswered," the lawsuit continues.

This story will be updated.