EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Seward County voters soundly rejected a proposed half-cent sales tax to help fund county road improvements in Tuesday’s election.
The vote tally was 1,230 votes against the measure with only 427 in support.
The proposed tax needed the permission of the Kansas Legislature to be placed on the ballot, but the issue was a compounded tax increase when paired with the increased valuation for city property owners as well as a massive 14.8 mill increase approved by three of the five Seward County Commissioners.
There was an attempt to form a committee to advocate for the half-cent sales tax, but that effort collapsed when Seward County did not provide a plan for the use of the funds which would have been an estimated $25 million over 10 years.
The current Road and Bridge budget is about $3 million, and the additional $2.5 per year would have been an 83 percent increase.
Seward County Commission Chair Scott Carr was contacted for comment but said the issue would be discussed at the Nov. 17 meeting.
