MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
The Hutchinson City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to place a three-quarters of a percent sales tax proposal before voters in a March 3 special election.
Currently, most of Hutchinson has an 8.25% sales tax on non-food items and a 1.75% sales tax on food. Passage of the sales tax would raise the non-food sales tax to 9%
Finance Director Angela Richard told council members that failure of the sales tax could result in significant reductions to city services. She cited a projected $3-million gap between city revenues and expenditures, noting that potential cuts could affect street maintenance, police and fire staffing, or other core municipal operations. Richard added that without the sales tax, the city may need to consider increasing property taxes by approximately 10 mills to offset the shortfall.
City officials said passage of the sales tax would allow Hutchinson to eliminate its stormwater utility fee. The special election itself is expected to cost the city about $43,000.
In other business Tuesday night, the council approved the purchase of more than 5,000 acre-feet of water rights from Sunoco for $10 million over a three-year period, increasing the city’s annual water supply to more than 17,000 acre-feet.
The council also approved a design contract for improvements at the Hutchinson Zoo, authorized increases in trash service fees under the city’s refuse contract, and approved nearly $3 million in industrial revenue bonds for Gunbros new facility.