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By DANIEL LOCKE | Staff Writer

HELENA – Sales tax could be set to increase soon in the city of Helena.

During a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, June 23, the Helena City Council held a first reading for a potential sales tax increase. A vote, along with a period for public comment, will take place when the council meets again.

Sales tax in the city would increase from 9% to 10%. The reason for the increase would be to help the city keep up with neighboring communities as well as fund city projects. The full ordinance will be made available on Helena’s website.

“Right now, our sales tax is at nine 9%, it’s raising to 10%,” Council President Alice Lobell said during the work session prior to the meeting. “All of our neighboring cities around us are at 10% and have been 10% for a while. Hoover, Pelham, Alabaster. It’s something that we’ve somehow managed to do a budget without it, but it’s been needed for a very long time.”

Council Member Andy Healy emphasized how this has been a last resort for the council.

“The last thing you want to do on a city council is raise taxes, that’s never a goal in my agenda,” Healy said.

In a reply to a Facebook post, Healy mentioned asking the council to table the discussion until after the upcoming Municipal Election.

“I just sent an email asking that we table this increase until the new council and we can look deep into the finances,” Healy said. “I was looking at the tax increase as a positive to raise money to get the city out of the hole. The more I think the more I do not think I am ready to support this.”

The council was also set to discuss and review the status of the new city hall project during the work session, but decided to hold off on doing so until the next meeting. The reason for postponing the discussion was due to key individuals in the development process not being able to make the meeting and share their updates with the council.

Other business included declaring a temporary moratorium on stores that sell or intend to sell hemp or vape products. The goal of the ordinance, which passed, is to keep these products out of the hands of minors.

“We just want to prevent this stuff from coming in and getting to the kids of Helena,” Police Chief Mike Wood said. “That’s kind of what this moratorium is for.

The council also acknowledged Ayden Allred’s achievement of Eagle Scout. Allred led the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the meeting.

“It’s very rare that we have somebody in the community named an Eagle Scout and we’re very excited,” Council Member Hewy Woodman said.

In other news, the Helena Old Town Board addressed the council, City Clerk Madison Harris was appointed election manager and the first readings of eight annexation ordinances were held.

The next scheduled meeting of the Helena City Council will take place on Monday, July 14 at Helena City Hall.