By KELLY WILSON

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

The Illinois County School Facilities Tax Act, which allows counties to impose a 1 percent sales tax to pay for school improvements, would help generate $4.28 million a year for the Quincy School District, based on 2007 county sales tax revenue.

The Quincy School District's Finance Committee discussed the act Tuesday, and the Quincy School Board is expected to talk more about it tonight. But board member and committee Chairman Bill Daniels said that no action is expected and that a special board meeting likely will be called to make a decision about having an advisory referendum on enacting the tax.

School districts in Payson, Liberty, Camp Point and Mendon already have filed resolutions with the Adams County Clerk's office in support of a referendum on the tax.

Tuesday night, the Adams County Board tabled action on a proposal to put an Illinois School Facilities Tax issue on the November ballot. Board members said they wanted to hear from the Quincy School District before taking action on the matter.

"If we weigh in and say we want to do it, (the Adams County Board has) no choice but to put it on the ballot," Daniels said.

Adams County Clerk Georgia Volm said earlier this week that state law enabling the sales tax ballot question specifies that it's an advisory referendum only. Even if voters were to approve the measure, it would still be up to the County Board to decide whether to impose the full sales tax or a portion of it, she said.

Several Quincy School Board members have attended informational meetings about the tax in Pike and Adams counties conducted by the Regional Office of Education.

Business Manager Rich Royalty said all Iowa counties have adopted such a tax and the Illinois General Assembly passed the law May 30, 2007. The tax is especially appealing to counties with a lot of out-of-state recreational traffic.

Royalty said the issue can be placed on the November ballot in Adams County in one of two ways -- by a majority vote of the County Board, or if school boards representing at least 51 percent of the student enrollment in the county request it. Quincy alone represents almost 71 percent of the county's student population.

The current Illinois sales tax base rate is 6.25 percent. The city of Quincy has an additional 1.5 percent purchase tax, for a total in Quincy of 7.75 percent. Royalty said sales tax rates in Hannibal, Mo., and Keokuk, Iowa, are 8.6 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

The tax does not apply to titled or licensed vehicles, mobile homes, food (off premises), drugs and medical supplies.

The committee also:

* Recommended that the board accept a firm bid of $267,928 from Prairie Farms Dairy in Quincy for milk and a low bid of $68,338 from Interstate Brands in Peoria for bread for the school year. Prairie Farms was the only company to submit a firm bid. Committee members determined that it was best to choose a firm bid this year instead of an escalating bid because of rising milk prices.

Royalty said bread costs have gone up about 14 percent since last year, while milk prices have gone up more than 30 percent.

* Recommended accepting the low bid of $576,079 from Kohl Wholesale in Quincy for food and nonfood items for the first semester of the school year. Those items include disposables, dry goods, frozen goods, snacks, cheese, fruits and vegetables.

* Recommended approval of a $400,000 interfund loan from the transportation fund to the education fund.

-- kwilson@whig.com/221-3391