SCOTT CITY TURNS BACK STREET TAX; NARROW MAJORITY DEFEATS MEASURE

SCOTT CITY -- Voters in Scott City Tuesday defeated a half-cent sales tax proposal that would have funded street repairs and improvements for the next five years.

With a mere 22 percent turnout, 316 voters rejected the tax while 284 voted in favor.

The measure would have brought the city's sales tax rate, presently at 5.725 percent, to a rate of 6.225 percent. It would have generated about $100,000 per year, which would have paid for contract labor and materials to fix city streets.

Mayor Shirley Young said late Tuesday the measure's defeat could have been caused by a combination of low voter turnout and the fact that some residents may have misunderstood the tax.

Only 615 of the city's 2,704 registered voters went to the polls.

"Naturally, I'm disappointed," the mayor said. "I thought it was a good program to fix the streets. But we have to take it to the voters, and apparently, many didn't agree."

Some residents had expressed concern to city officials that the funds generated from the tax would be spent on other city projects, and not reserved solely for street repair.

But Young and City Attorney Francis J. Siebert repeatedly assured citizens that legally, the money could be used only for street repair.

"I think there may have been some confusion there despite our reassurances," she said. "But maybe the people are just against any kind of taxes, or maybe they're just not concerned about the streets."

Young said she is unsure what measures the city will take to pay for street repairs.

"It will be up to the council," she said. "When the (city) budget committee is appointed, we'll have to see where we can make cuts."

The tax was defeated in two of three city precincts. In the Ward 1 precinct, it was approved 125-105. It lost in Wards 2 and 4, which vote in precinct 2, by a margin of 77-108. It was defeated in Ward 3 by a margin of 80-102. Three absentee votes were cast, two in favor and one against.

Eight years ago, the city lost about $50,000 per year in federal revenue sharing that it had used to fund street repairs and improvements.

Since that time, about $20,000 per year has been put into the city budget to fund repairs. It's an amount that councilman John Rogers has called a "drop in the bucket."

Rogers said because of the loss of revenue sharing, the city is "at least $400,000 behind in street repairs."

The tax would have gone into effect in July, and was to last for five years. Workers would have started fixing the streets by late summer, according to Public Works Director Harold Uelsmann.

Young said she felt that a sales tax is a fair tax. She said many people who drive in the city rent their homes or come in off the interstate to make purchases, making a property tax unjust.

The tax was denied by a 32-vote margin.

"I knew it was going to be close," Young said, "and I knew there was some opposition out there. I guess we'll have to put up with the chug holes for a while."

Low voter turnout may have been attributed to the fact that candidates for the City Council ran unopposed, Young noted.