Kingsland Annexes Dollar General Store

KINGSLAND - The Kingsland City Council unanimously approved an ordinance during its regular monthly meeting last Thursday to annex the Dollar General store into the city limits, eventually making all taxable purchases there eligible for the city's 1 percent sales tax.According to Ordinance 20254, the annexation will become effective 30 days after its passage last Thursday on Oct. 23. The city, in turn, has three years to provide all city services - water and sewer, police and fire protection, street maintenance and trash service - to the annexed property. Mayor Karen Wiscaver said in an interview after the meeting that the city is already providing those services.Before the Dollar General at Kingsland opened in February 2024, there was some question as to whether the store was within the Kingsland city limits. If so, all the taxable purchases made there be subject to the city sales tax. While a portion of the parking lot did fall within the city limits, the store building itself did not, thereby making the city sales tax inapplicable.Based on figures released by the Dollar General Corporation, the retail store chain generated $40.6 billion in revenue last year from about 19,000 stores, which means each store averages about $2.14 million in annual sales. If the Kingsland store averaged that amount, it would generate about $21,400 in sales tax revenue for the city.Wiscaver and City Attorney Thomas Burns, who was at last Thursday's meeting, said this was essentially a voluntary annexation by Dollar General. The ordinance notes that the property owner signed an affidavit requesting to be annexed into the city.Wiscaver said the only request from Dollar General was to being the city sales tax collection at the beginning of a month so it would not have to begin collecting sales taxes at a different rate in the middle of a month. Wiscaver said she was agreeable to that request.Based on the ordinance timeline, Wiscaver said the Do...