County Seeks Sales Tax Extension

Crawford County commissioners last week approved a measure that will go on the April ballot to extend the one-half of 1% sales tax increase.

In exchange, the county will continue to roll back general revenue personal property and real estate levies to zero.

The extension would begin Jan. 1, 2024 and would provide the continued stabilization and maintenance of the general revenue, according to the ballot.

If approved, the measure would keep the current sales tax in place. 

The county had to put the tax on the ballot this year.

The current sales tax has been in place since October 2018. It was first passed by voters in April 2018 and went into effect six months later.

The commission was able to get the increased sales tax through after two failed attempts in 2016.

Voters swung hard against the 2016 efforts, going against them by around 70% in both August and November.

The current commission — Presiding Commissioner Leo Sanders, District 1 Commissioner Rob Cummings and District 2 Commissioner Jared Boast — voted in January 2018 to put a new tax on the ballot, rolling back the personal property and real estate taxes in exchange.

With 53% of voters coming out in favor, the county was able to get the revenue it had long sought.

Commissioners came out with a five-year plan for what they would do with the sales tax, including a balanced budget, a salary schedule, a budget reserve and the construction of a coroner’s building.

The county has accomplished all of those things, though the coroner’s building is still being worked on.

Crawford County has seen its general revenue soar. It rose from averaging about $1 million to $2 million in 2019, then increased to $2.4 million in 2020 and $2.5 million in 2021.