DALTON, Ga. — Dalton Public Schools has joined with Whitfield County Schools in approving a resolution calling for a new five-year Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST).

The unanimous vote by the Dalton school board Monday evening will put the 1 percent tax on the ballot during a special election on March 21.

The current five-year ESPLOST that is split between the two school systems based on enrollment numbers expires on Dec. 31 of this year and is expected to collect $81 million, which has been far below projections, according to numbers released by Dalton Public Schools.

The new ESPLOST, if approved by voters, would begin on Jan. 1, 2018, and would be expected to collect $98 million, with Whitfield County Schools receiving $61 million and Dalton Public Schools $37 million. Because enrollment in Dalton schools has grown and enrollment in county schools has plateaued and is even trending downward, Dalton Public Schools would see its percentage of the tax rise from 34.62 percent to 37.7 percent if the tax is approved by voters.

“The ESPLOST is a necessity and not an extravagance,” Dalton Board of Education Chairman Rick Fromm said. “It is definitely a need for both Whitfield County Schools and Dalton Public Schools. These are capital projects that are greatly needed for both systems.”

Dalton Public Schools’ top priority is “adding to, renovating, repairing, improving, equipping and furnishing existing school buildings or other buildings or facilities useful or desirable in connection therewith, including, but not limited to Brookwood School, City Park School, Roan School and Dalton High School.” Projections totaling nearly $40 million in capital projects have been placed on the priority list — including $10 million for a new gym at Dalton High — but officials have admitted the tax is not likely to fund lower-priority projects on the list.

Whitfield County Schools’ top priorities for its share of the ESPLOST are replacing North Whitfield Middle School and Valley Point Middle School, which were built as high schools, with two new schools that would be built on the same campuses. Officials say it makes more economic sense to build new schools that will last 50 or 60 years than to make patches that will have to be updated in 10 or 15 years, especially since the school system can get state funding to offset part of the cost for new construction.

In other business Monday night, Fromm was re-elected by the board as chairman with Sherwood Jones as the vice chairman and Tulley Johnson as the treasurer.