Massac Sales Tax Hike Measure Fails by Two Votes

The absentee ballots have been counted, and a measure to enact a 1 percent sales tax increase in Massac County to pay for renovations to the county's aging courthouse building has failed to pass.

Voters were split by a razor-thin margin of one vote on election day, with 3,318 votes for the increase, and 3,319 against. However, 17 mail-in absentee ballots had still not been received by the county clerk's office. The remaining ballots were tallied Tuesday afternoon at the Massac County Courthouse. In all, seven ballots were received that were postmarked by the Nov. 8 deadline. Of those, three voted for the tax increase and four voted against it. This means the measure failed by a margin of just two votes.

The failed ballot measure would have raised the county sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 7.25 percent. The estimated $840,000 yearly revenue the tax increase would have generated over a period of up to 15 years would have been used to fix various problems with the courthouse including plumbing, windows, HVAC, mold and asbestos issues. Statute still requires that the courthouse be repaired, so it is unclear exactly where officials will get the funding needed to perform the work.

Massac County Commissioner Jayson Farmer, who supported the tax increase, says money for repairs will likely have to come from existing departmental budgets.

"We'll have to work with a reduction of budgets to try to get some renovations started on the courthouse," Farmer said. "Unfortunately it's going to have to come from the budgets of the office holders. It's not an option that we really wanted to explore, but unfortunately our only option at this time is to reduce their budgets maybe 10 or 15 percent in the offices to try to raise enough money each year to start working on the courthouse."

Farmer says it's unclear at this point which departments will be forced to cut their budgets, or exactly what those reductions might be.

Massac County Republican Party Chairman Samuel Stratemeyer says he agrees with those who voted no on the measure, saying money for courthouse renovations should come from other sources.

"My response is the same as the response from the people of Massac County. They have voted no twice to increase taxes. They want the courthouse fixed with no tax increase." Stratemeyer said.

Voters rejected a similar measure in March by a margin of 200 votes.