Guthrie citizens to vote on CIP proposed sales tax extension

Updated on Wednesday, April 3, 2024 — Voters easily pass CIP sales tax extension

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Voters within the city limits of Guthrie will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether to extend the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) sales tax for an additional 15 years.

The election, approved by the Guthrie city council in January, will be held Tuesday, April 2 with the polls opening at 7 a.m. and closing at 7 p.m.

If approved, the CIP sales tax would extend from the year 2031 to 2046. The tax rate would not increase or decrease but would remain the same.

Among the key initiatives for the extension came back from a citizen’s survey, including water and sewer line upgrades and replacements, a second fire station, increased ADA accessibility for sidewalks and crosswalks, a municipal pool or aquatic feature at Highland Park, and expansion of Owen Fields Sports Complex.

A website has been created for the measure at GrowingGuthrie.com.

In 2016, voters approved the 0.75% sales tax increase on goods purchased or sold in the city limits to fund capital improvements.

In November, the council created a 10-member task force of community members, including one citizen from each council member and three at large, to develop a plan of action for future CIP projects and to find potential funding mechanisms.

One of the goals was to touch each area that the city functions in including emergency services, infrastructure, and quality of life.

The committee found the City needs $61M in water and sewer infrastructure, $45M in roads and bridges, and $20M in ADA accessibility throughout the city (including downtown). Those items did not address a second fire station, quality of life projects, and other critical needs.

The task force identified their top six priorities including waterline and valve replacements, a second fire station in the south portion of the city, sewer line upgrades and replacement, Owen Field expansion and completion, ADA accessibility, and a cost-effective Highland Park pool.

Afterwards, an online survey was conducted by city staff resulting in 600 citizens responding in agreement with the task force.

Citizens said their top priority is waterline and water valve upgrades followed by sewer line upgrades, a second fire station, completion of the sports complex, ADA downtown projects, and a city pool.

The survey asked citizens if they would support a 10-year or 15-year extension of the current CIP Sales Tax, not an increase of the tax, but an extension.

Overwhelmingly, citizens both in and out of the city limits said they would support either a 10-year or a 15-year increase to the current tax. 87.5% of the citizens within city limits and 88% outside the city limits said they would support the 15-year extension.

With an approved extension of the tax, the tax is estimated to gather a million dollars per year ($15M total).

“With an extension of the CIP sales tax not only will this tremendously begin to benefit Guthrie and its infrastructure but at the same time hedge against inflation,” task force member Chris Evans told the council at the Jan. 16 council meeting.

The council also voted to transition the task force committee to an oversight committee effective April 3, 2024 and shall remain in place for the duration of the levy, with one appointment coming from each council member. The committee member will run concurrently with the councilman’s term.

Now city staff are working on cost estimating for the proposed projects.

“We need to know and be firm that we can complete this project,” City Manager Eddie Faulkner told the council. “If we are going to seek an extension of any kind we need to be able to look at the voters and say, ‘we can do this project. We have a firm cost. We know that this is what we can design and build and turn over to the community for this amount of money.’”