next tuesday
Next Tuesday, February 11th, the citizens of Tonkawa are being asked to approve an extension of a 1-cent sales tax that the City uses for Capital Expenditures and Projects. The City uses the revenue from this tax to purchase Fire Engines, Police vehicles, heavy equipment for the maintenance of our streets, and infrastructure improvements.
The original Capital Improvements sales tax was approved in 2001 and will expire in September 2021.
The City Council has scheduled an election for February 11th to ask the Citizens of Tonkawa to approve a 20-year extension of the sales tax.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. next Tuesday at the Church of Christ and the Family Center of the Methodist Church. Only voters who live in the city limits are eligible to vote.
The City of Tonkawa presently has a 4.5% city sales tax. This extension would not raise the current rate, Mayor Ken Smith points out. Of the 4.5 cent city sales tax, 1.5 cents goes to water, street, sewer and drainage; one cent for capital improvements; and two cents for general government operations.
The Council has added language to the one penney tax to allow it to be used for the construction, maintenance, and operation of a municipal swimming pool.
The City collects sales taxes to provides funds for the operation of the City. About half of the tax revenue collected by the City is restricted to specific uses such as infrastructure projects and capital improvements. The remaining tax collections and the income from the operation of our electric, water, and gas utilities are used for the City’s operating expenses such as employee salaries and supplies to operate our Fire and Police Departments. The City has adequate funds for Capital projects but, like many cities our size, operating budgets can be tight.
Allowing the City to use restricted sales tax income for the maintenance and operation of a municipal swimming pool makes the construction of a new pool possible and does not burden the City with spending limited unrestricted operating funds for the pool.
A study of the old WPA pool showed that large gaps between the many concrete plates that make up the pool bottom had developed. Various methods to repair the gaps had been attempted for several years prior to closing the pool, but each attempt failed within weeks due to movement of the concrete plates. In addition, the bottom of the pool has ...
