Boone County residents to vote to renew sales tax
The proposition is on the ballot for Tuesday's special election.
Nov. 2, 2007
Boone County citizens will vote on Tuesday whether to accept the renewal of a sales tax, which would be partially spent on county roads.
The Boone County Notice of Special Election said the countywide sales tax will use .5 percent for the purpose of improving and maintaining roads, bridges and right-of-ways within the county.
Mayor Darwin Hindman said if this proposition is passed, it will not create a new tax but simply renew an existing one.
"This is a renewal of the present sales tax," Hindman said. "If it were not voted on, the tax would disappear. Residents will be paying less if this is defeated, but the money wouldn't be there for the roads."
Hindman said the Columbia City Council was not required to vote on the sales tax, but its council members chose to because they unanimously supported its renewal.
"This is not a city tax, it's a county tax," Hindman said. "The City Council voted to endorse it. We weren't required to vote on this, but we voted because we favored it."
Hindman said with money going toward the roads, it would allow cities to conduct road projects.
"The county needs to maintain its roads, and this tax allows them to do so," Hindman said. "Also, the city will benefit because part of the tax will be paid to the cities for projects."
Boone County Libertarian Party Chairman John Schultz has not favored some of the past taxes, but said he feels this tax will be beneficial to Boone County. This is not the position of his party.
"In my opinion, it's a small enough tax to benefit enough people," Schultz said. "This isn't the opinion of our party as a whole."
The party issued a news release calling for citizens to vote against the renewal of the tax.
Schultz said he is in favor of money being spent on the projects as long as the projects benefit the people.
"One project was the paving of a road that was about a half of a mile long," Schultz said. "There weren't many people who lived on this road. There were other roads that may have been a bigger priority. I would support projects that benefit more people."
Schultz said people generally don't have a problem with this tax if they know the money is being spent to better their city.
"As long as people see their money is being spent wisely, people won't have a problem with it," Schultz said.
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