During the Custer County Board of Commissioners meeting, County Clerk Melissa Graham said it was time to prepare for county sales tax renewal election, which happens every 5 years.
The item will be on the primary ballot in June 2022.
If passed, the item will put back on the current 0.5 percent sales tax for another 5 years.
The county commissioners said they preferred to require the sales tax to be voted on a regularly rather than make it permanent because it keeps the county accountable to the people.
Graham said the sales tax money mainly goes toward payroll for county employees. She said without the sales tax, the county would have to reduce the number of people it employs.
The county will need to raise private funds for promotional materials, decide on the ballot language and recruit people to help campaign.
The commission will have further discussion regarding the election during later meetings.
In other business, the board took no action regarding the annual agreement with Multi-County Youth Services. With the agreement, MCYS also requests $10,000.
The board was unsure about approving the annual agreement because the Custer County Sheriff’s Office has not used this service in years. The board also has not received an answer regarding whether they still can take children to MCYS without the agreement.
The board decided to take no action and see if they could get a representative to visit with them and answer questions before making a decision.
The board approved a $5,000 transfer from Sales Tax M&O to Sales Tax Travel for Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma annual dues. The board also approved a $9,000 transfer from Arapaho Fire M&O to Arapaho Fire Capital Outlay.
The board approved resolutions to surplus and dispose of two computers for the county treasurer’s office. The board also approved blanket purchase orders and purchase orders for payment.