Mayetta residents to vote on sales tax increase

Mayetta city voters will be asked in March to decide on whether the city will increase its sales tax by one-half percent to help cover the cost of extending a city sewer line to the new Dollar General store.

A “special question election” will be held Tuesday, March 9 to decide whether an additional, one-half percent tax on retail sales in Mayetta will be collected “for general governmental purposes,” mainly to help pay for the sewer line extension to the Dollar General store, which is currently under construction at Mayetta’s west city limits and is expected to open this coming spring.

If the sales tax question passes at the election — to be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. that day at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, located at 301 E. James St. in Mayetta — the  sales tax in Mayetta, currently at 1 percent, will increase to 1.5 percent effective April 1 of this year.

Mayetta Mayor Jonathan Wimer said the Mayetta City Council approved the ballot question and a special election at its Wednesday, Feb. 3 meeting.

“This new sales tax is needed in great part to pay for the sewer line extension,” Wimer said. “We’re expecting to finance that extension by a 20-year loan through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and the sales taxes collected will be utilized in part to pay off that loan.”

Wimer also noted that revenues generated by the sales tax, if approved by voters, will also be used for “general purposes” in the city, such as street maintenance and sidewalk construction and repair, in addition to repaying the loan, which will cover the $396,517 cost of the sewer line extension project.

There will also be a public meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18 at the Mayetta fire station, at which time Mayetta city officials will answer any questions that city residents may have about the sales tax question, Wimer said.

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