Pittsburg, (KS) residents head to the polls today to vote on reauthorizing a public safety sales tax resident first approved in 2013. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.
In 2013, by a 60/40 margin, Pittsburg voters approved a ½ cent public safety sales tax for ten years. At the time, Pittsburg city officials said the new tax would generate on average 1.8 million dollars to help fund the City’s police and fire services.
Depending on the strength of Pittsburg’s economy, the ½ cent sales tax took in as little as 1.4 million dollars during the first year of the pandemic in 2020. The tax rebounded the following year to 1.8 million dollars and 2.3 million last year. So far, the City has received about $19.2 million over the previous decade and has roughly $1.8 million in reserves used to augment the expenses.
The increase in funding has helped replace a 30-year-old Fire Engine at Fire Station #1, the personal Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), and protective structural firefighting bunker gear used by firefighters. The sales tax is set to expire in December of this year. Polls are open today from 7 am until 7 pm.
For 89 9 KRPS News, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro