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Public Safety Sales Tax Passes in Pittsburg

Pittsburg, KS City Hall
Pittsburg, KS City Hall

The reauthorization of the 1/2 cent sales tax will now expire in December of 2033.

With over 79% of the vote, Pittsburg voters Tuesday overwhelmingly reapproved the city’s public safety sales tax that was set to expire at the end of this year.

649 residents voted yes, while 135 voted no.

As a result there will be no change in the ½ cent public safety sales tax for another ten years.

Last year, with the help of the tax, Pittsburg raised 2.3 million dollars for public safety to supplement the city’s budget. Since 2013, over 19.2 million has been raised due to the tax.

Since 2017 Fred Fletcher-Fierro has driven up Highway 171 through thunderstorms, downpours, snow, and ice storms to host KRPS’s Morning Edition. He’s also a daily reporter for the station, covering city government, elections, public safety, arts, entertainment, culture, sports and more. Fred has also spearheaded and overseen a sea change in programming for KRPS from a legacy classical station to one that airs a balance of classical, news, jazz, and cultural programming that better reflects the diverse audience of the Four States. For over two months in the fall of 2022 he worked remotely with NPR staff to relaunch krps.org to an NPR style news and information website.