Voters in the city of Hartshorne will decide whether to pass a half-cent sales tax increase on Tuesday, while voters in the Savanna and Stuart public school districts will vote on school-related issues.
Hartshorne voters will cast ballots April 5 on whether to approve a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to fund water system improvements and associated costs.
Total sales taxes in the city of Hartshorne are currently set at 9.25%, said Hartshorne City Clerk Elizabeth Wilson. That includes Hartshorne’s current 3.25% city sales tax rate, along with 1.5% in Pittsburg County sales taxes and the state of Oklahoma’s 4.5% tax sales tax rate.
If Hartshorne voters pass the proposed half-cent sales tax increase, it will raise total sales taxes in the city to 9.75%. It would boost the city’s sales tax rate to 3.75%, along with the 1.5% Pittsburg County sales tax rate and the 4.5% sales tax rate assessed by the state of Oklahoma, Wilson said.
Since there is no expiration date on the sales tax proposal, if it passes it will be a permanent sales tax increase, Wilson confirmed.
The proposition for the measure, which is taken from the election resolution, states:
“Shall the city of Hartshorne, Oklahoma, be authorized to levy and collect an additional one half of one percent (0.50%) excise tax (sales tax), in addition to any and all other excise taxes now in force, with the proceeds thereof being used to fund water system improvements and associated costs, and with said revenues also being available to pay debt service on obligations issued by the City and any public trust giving the City as a beneficiary thereof to finance or refinance said water systems improvements and associated costs?”
No specific projects are cited either on the ballot or on the election resolution passed by the city council. The city is working on water line repairs and improvements, Wilson said.
In the Savanna Public Schools District, candidates Jody Lynn Lindley and Lee Skinner are vying for a school board seat for Office No.2.
Voters in the Stuart School District, which is Hughes county Independent School District 54, will cast ballots on a proposed $1.8 million school bond question.
Voters in four Pittsburg County precincts who live within the boundaries of the Stuart school district are eligible to vote on the Stuart school bond issue, election officials said. They are Precinct 21 at the Arpelar Nazarene Church; Precinct 23, Ashland Baptist Church; Precinct 48, Scipio Community Center and Precinct 49, Tannehill Fire Department.
One of the Stuart Public Schools social media sites states the bond money would cover many projects if passed, including:
Parking lot improvements, STEM lab equipment, upgraded playground equipment, installing secure entrances and school buildings, upgrading agriculture and animal science to include a greenhouse, animal barn and new equipment, and acquiring a new walk-in freezer.
Also: Acquire technology equipment throughout the district, build a new weight room / bus parking structure, install new lights at the athletic fields, install new scoreboards at the gym and athletic fields and acquire AED defibrillators.
The proposition on the Stuart Public Schools ballot asks if the school district shall “incur an indebtedness by issuing its bonds in the amount of $1.8 million to provide funds for the purpose on constructing, repairing and remodeling school buildings, acquiring school furniture, fixtures and equipment, and acquiring and improving school sites and levy and collect an annual tax, in addition to all other taxes, upon all the taxable property in such District sufficient to pay the interest on such bonds as it falls due, and also to constitute a sinking fund for the payment of the principal thereof when due, said bonds to bear interest not to exceed the rate of 10% per annum, payable semi-annually and to become due serially within 10 years from their date?”
Contact James Beaty at [email protected].