LAHARPE — Local voters will decide in November on a proposed sales tax to fund street upkeep and other possible capital projects.
LaHarpe City Council members voted, 4-0, to put the bond resolution on the ballot.
If approved, the 1-cent sales tax would go into effect next April and last for 10 years.
According to figures from the Kansas Department of Commerce, the tax would have generated about $14,000 had it been in place this year.
Council members agreed seeking a sales tax vote was more palatable than increasing property taxes because revenue would come from more than just residents living in city limits.
Added revenues are necessary to build up funds for maintaining streets, they said. With about four miles worth of roads in need of chip-seal, such a project would cost about $26,000. The city has $28,000 in its budget from accumulating several years of state money, leaving little else for other projects.
Meanwhile, the Council approved the city’s 2015 budget, which maintains the same property tax levies as this year.
LaHarpe’s 54.607 mill levy means the owner of a $50,000 home will pay about $314 to support city operations in 2015.
LaHarpe to put sales tax to vote
