Voters in Great Bend approved three retail sales tax additions Tuesday. A sales tax was also approved in Ellinwood. Collection of the new taxes will commence on April 1, 2022. … The City of Great Bend sought a total 0.45% retail sales tax increase, divided into three propositions. This raises the city sale tax to 1.2%. Added to the state sales tax of 6.5% and the Barton County sales tax of 1.0%, the total after April 1, 2022 will be 8.7%. Proposition 1 (Yes: 1,067 – No: 884) will impose a permanent 0.15% city-wide sales tax “to pay the costs of quality of life purposes, improvements, and initiatives throughout the city, including the payment of financing costs related thereto, and to provide property tax relief.” Proposition 2 (Yes: 1,382 – No: 573) imposes a 0.10% city-wide sales tax for 20 years, “to finance the costs of police station improvements,” including plans for a new building to house the Great Bend Police Department and the Municipal Court. … Proposition 3 (Yes: 1,365 – No: 604) will impose a permanent 0.20% city-wide sales tax “for the purposes of financing the operations of the city’s police and fire departments.” This includes the funding of pension plans for first responders.
Source: Great Bend Tribune
