Johnson County Voters Kill Special Sales Tax

Johnson County residents headed to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of a special purpose one-percent sales tax to benefit facilities in Buffalo, Kaycee and the county, and the measure failed.

There are 5,072 registered voters in Johnson County, and 56.9% of them turned out to vote in the special election.

The count of those voting against the measure were 2,080 while 802 voted for the special purpose tax.

The proposed one-cent tax, if it had been approved, would have boosted the sales tax rate in the county to 7%.

The ballot measure would have implemented a seventh penny sales tax to fund a number of facilities that are in need of upgrades or replacement, asking taxpayers for roughly $38 million, with $25 million going to projects and $13 million going to maintenance accounts for future upkeep on the facilities, such as the county fairgrounds, Jim Gatchell Museum, Bomber Mountain Civic Center, and building a recreation center in Buffalo.