Arkansas City voters will soon have the opportunity to repeal both the one-cent and the half-cent sales taxes, and replace them with a one-cent sales tax for the South Central Kansas Medical Center.
City commissioners approved a resolution during their regular meeting Tuesday authorizing the special question election, which will be performed through a mail in ballot.
Both taxes were put in place to support the medical center. The one-cent tax was approved by voters in 2016, and was set to expire after 10-years. The half-cent tax was approved in 2008 and expires in March of 2019. If approved, the new one-cent tax will have no expiration date.
City Manager Nick Hernandez said the change would provide a better opportunity for the city to refinance the current hospital construction debt, which could provide a significant savings.
(Read more: The Arkansas City Traveler)