Kingfisher voters likely will revisit the issue of a sales tax to finance a new fire station and other capital improvements in an election next May.

At least that was the tenor of discussions among commissioners and city staff at the monthly city commission meeting Monday night.

Commissioners instructed City Manager Dave Slezickey and City Attorney Jared Harrison to prepare a draft resolution calling for a May 11 vote on a 10-year half-cent capital improvement tax.

Proceeds of the tax would first be earmarked for construction of a new fire station and then for other capital improvements as funds allow.

Slezickey said a draft resolution will be brought back for commissioners to review at their January meeting and the final resolution will be voted at the February meeting and forwarded to the county election board.

Commissioners began discussing options for resubmitting the sales tax proposal to voters in a more palatable form at November’s meeting, just a few days after the original proposal for a permanent third-cent tax failed by a slim 13-vote margin in the general election.

At that meeting, commissioners reviewed preliminary results of an online survey conducted by the Times and Free Press, where a plurality of respondents cited the fact that the new tax was permanent as the reason they did not support it.

Slezickey also noted at the November meeting that the fact that the election was held the same time as a high turnout presidential election also proved problematic.

“We feel like with so many people voting for so many different reasons, we probably had people there who weren’t really informed about the sales tax election,” he said.

“If we have it as a stand alone, then the voters who will turn out are those who are interested in the sales tax issue, whether it’s to support or oppose it.”

City commissioners initially discussed a seven-year tax exclusively for the fire department construction, but after some discussion, voted unanimously for a 10-year tax that would also allow other capital improvement projects to be addressed.