Kingfisher County residents gave a big thumbs-up to renewing the county’s designated half-cent sales tax, but 13 votes defeated the city’s proposal for a permanent third-cent capital improvement tax.

County voters approved the county tax by a margin of 59 %, with 3,697 voting yes and 2,572 voting no.

Proceeds of the designated tax is divided among the following entities:

• County roads -28 %

• Sheriff’s office - 15 %

• General government -15 %

• Rural fire departments - 13 %

• County 911 - 9 %

• County 4-H youth programs - 8 %

• Chisholm Trail Museum - 4 %

• County libraries - 2 %

“I’m very thankful to the people of Kingfisher County for the broad support for this tax continuation,” District 3 County Commissioner Heath Dobrovolny said. “It means that jobs will be saved, services will continue and improvements to county infrastructure will be possible.”

The majority of voters at every precinct except Precinct 106, where 54 voted yes and 56 voted no, were in favor of approving the proposition.

VOTING BY PRECINCT

101 - 671 yes, 411 no; 102 - 167 yes, 97 no; 103 - 207 yes, 140 no; 105 - 454 yes, 294 no; 106 - 54 yes, 56 no; 201 - 615 yes, 509 no; 203 - 81 yes, 71 no; 204 - 185 yes, 121 no; 301 - 675 yes, 442 no; 302 - 276 yes, 216 no; 303 - 76 yes, 58 no; 304- 113 yes, 66 no; 305 - 114 yes, 82 no.

Early and election day voters at Precinct 301 (Senior Citizens Center) appear to have played the largest role in the narrow defeat of the city’s proposed one-third cent Capital Improvement Sales Tax.

The 1,014 voters who cast ballots at the city’s largest precinct voted the measure down 501-537. City-wide, the measure failed by just 13 votes - 965 yes to 978 no - a slim one-third of a percentage point.

The tax was proposed to replace the so-called “HEART” Tax of the same amount, which financed quality of life improvements like the multimillion-dollar Vernie Snow Aquatic Center rehabilitation and expired in October.

The Capital Improvement Tax would first have funded construction of an expanded fire station, replacing the 1970s structure that was built to accommodate a much smaller force (a single toilet, sink and shower in the entire building) and a much smaller inventory of equipment.

“It is disappointing that we missed out on a stable revenue source to set the community up for long term success,” City Manager Dave Slezickey said. “We’ll look at a special and termed sales tax for the fire station, while incorporating capital improvement funding into utility rates.”

City commissioners will discuss alternatives at their regular November meeting next Monday night at 5:30 p.m.

The measure was defeated by seven votes in absentee mail-in ballots, two votes in early voting and four votes on Election Day.

VOTING BY PRECINCT

101 (Kingfisher Memorial Library) - 454 yes, 440 no; 103 - (Central Baptist Association) - 4 yes, 1 no; 301 (Senior Citizens Center) - 507 yes, 537 no.

(Ed. note: If you have an opinion on the sales tax proposal, we’d love to hear it. Follow this link to vote in our online survey or visit the Kingfisher Times & Free Press Facebook Page: https://bitly/CapitalImprovementTaxSurvey.)