Nearly 86% of Central Voters Approve Limits on Sales Tax

CENTRAL — Voters in the Central Community School District overwhelmingly approved limits on a 1/2-cent sales tax in Saturday’s election.

The tax limitation proposal was approved 3,998 to 675.  That was 85.6 percent in favor to 14.4 percent against.

The 4,673 votes cast represented a turnout of about 23 percent of Central’s roughly 20,000 registered voters.

Central school board member Will Easley had urged Central voters to vote ‘Yes’ for the proposition.

In May 2008, Central voters approved new property taxes and a new 1/2-cent sales taxes for construction of a $55 million school complex and Life Safety Code improvements to existing schools in Central.

The school board issued bonds, or debt, which are funded by the taxes.  The property tax will automatically expire when the bonds are paid off.  However, the sales tax was scheduled to continue on indefinitely into the future. Will Easley said that was never the school board’s intent.

So the school board put the proposition on the ballot to repeal the 1/2-cent sales tax when the school complex is paid off.  All seven members of the Central School Board support the proposition.