Citizens in Winfield voice opinion on sales tax to fund safety center and street improvements

Winfield citizens gave their opinion on a proposed 1-percent sales tax to fund a safety center and street improvements during a presentation Thursday at the Winfield Fire Station.

Ballots for the mail-in election will be delivered beginning May 14. They will be due to the county clerk’s office by June 4.

If approved, the new sales tax would replace an existing .4 percent sales tax for street and public library improvements. That tax was approved in 2014 and set to expire in 2021.

The city’s total sales tax would increase from the current 7.9 percent to 8.5 percent if the new sales tax were approved.

Total projected cost of the safety center, which will house the Winfield fire, police and EMS departments, is just more than $14 million, with an estimated bond payment of $995,000 a year for 25 years. Any remaining money generated by the tax would fund the street improvements.