Jefferson County residents will go to the polls on Tuesday, August 23 for a special run-off election that includes voting on maintaining a one cent sales tax that was originally earmarked for the Jefferson County Hospital. The Jefferson County Hospital Authority no longer needs those funds, but our county officials want to put those dollars to work for some much needed projects.
“Keeping the one cent sales tax active will allow us to keep our county government local,” stated Bryce Bohot, Jefferson County Commissioner for District One. “It’s essentially the same idea as keeping our hospital local and keeping those important services available here, we need to ensure that we keep our county services here, too.”
“It’s important to note that voting yes on the sales tax, does not increase your property taxes. It only impacts sales tax and it is not an increase from what you are currently paying,” Bohot continued.
In order to keep services local, the one cent sales tax would be used for many improvements, including, but not limited to the following areas:
• To ensure that necessary repairs can be made to our County Courthouse and Jefferson County Fairgrounds buildings.
• To comply with Oklahoma state statutes on paying all elected officials & first deputies out of the county general fund.
• Bring our County Jail up to state mandated codes.
• Increasing the dollars available for improving our county roads.
• Operating at a level where there is matching funding available for grants to support future projects without additional indebtedness.
County officials have scheduled a series of Town Meetings for area residents to get their questions answered about the importance of keeping the one cent tax for Jefferson County. The meeting days and times are: Addington, Monday, August 8, 6 p.m., Addington Community Center; Hastings, Monday, August 8, 7:30 p.m. Hastings Senior Citizens Center; Terral/Grady, Tuesday, August 9, 6 p.m., Terral Community Center; Ryan/Sugden, Friday, August 12, 6 p.m. Ryan Senior Citizens Center; Ringling, Monday, August 15, 6 p.m. Ringling Community Center; Claypool, Monday, August 15, 7:30 p.m. Claypool Community Center; and Waurika/Sugden, Tuesday, August 16, 6 p.m. Waurika Presbyterian Church, 124 W. Broadway, Waurika.
