The Pike County Commission opted Monday night not to ask voters for 25 percent of the revenue from the 1-cent educational sales tax.

Commissioners voted unanimously to kill a motion which would send a resolution to the state Legislature in Montgomery authorizing a 75-25 split of sales tax funds. The money was to have infused county coffers and gone towards paving roads and other projects such as a new jail.

However, citing a Messenger Web poll that showed only 12 percent of voters in support of the split, Commissioner Larry Meeks made the motion to shelve the legislation. With a second from Commissioner Willie Thomas, the commission closed down the possibility of getting revenue from the school tax.

Commissioner Ray Goodson interjected his support for extending the tax for three more years, with all of the funds going towards schools. The other commissioners considered his comments before moving onto other business. The current 1-cent sales tax expires at the end of September.

The other major move of the commissioners was to award a bid for a solid waste contract.

Of four bidding companies, each of which was represented at the meeting, Arrow, a company based in Abbeville, won the contract. The 10-year old company supplants Mark Dunning Industries as solid waste collector for Pike County and the move marks a significant departure of the Pike County Commission from the current method of trash collection.

Under the new measure, which passed 4-2 with Commissioners Thomas and Willie Harris dissenting, Arrow will not only collect the waste, but will be responsible for billing and collection of fees. Previously, MDI collected the waste but the county was responsible for the financial collections, which have been historically lacking.

Stephen Stetson can be reached at stephen.stetson @troymessenger.com.