Allen County commissioners continued to discuss their efforts to promote a proposed half-cent sales tax that will be on the Nov. 5 ballot. The commissioners have said they will dedicate a portion of the tax proceeds to Allen County’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
Zoning Administrator Terry Call presented commissioners Tuesday morning with a promotional flyer he had created for the campaign efforts. With “Vote Yes for EMS” written in bold at the bottom, the flyer informs voters on the proposed tax while encouraging them to support it.
The new sales tax is expected to generate approximately $1.2 million. Commissioners anticipate the new tax will allow Allen County to initially lower the mill levy by 4 mills.
Commissioners have claimed that funding the EMS with a countywide sales tax lightens the load on property owners. If approved, the proposed tax would raise the county tax to 1.75%.
AN EXAMPLE is given on the flyer as to what the hypothetical cost savings would be for property owners.
A person with a home appraised at $100,000 would have an $11,500 assessed value. This would translate to $11.50 as the value of one mill. After multiplying this figure by 4 mills, the result is a $46 savings. Similarly, a person with a $150,000 home would have an $17,250 assessed value that translates to $17.25 as the value of one mill and a $69 savings.
“I like the analysis on the home valuation and how much the tax saves you,” noted Commissioner David Lee. “That’s good information.”
County counselor Bob Johnson told commissioners at last week’s meeting they could spend public funds to promote the sales tax.
Call noted it would cost about $900 to print 1,000 flyers on 60-lb. paper through an online service offered by FedEx Office Print & Ship Center in Lawrence.
Call added he’d look at other options as well.
Lee suggested mailing the flyers and asked City Clerk Shannon Patterson how much it had cost to mail the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR) information.
“It cost the county $6,000,” she replied.
Symes said that although it is a “big chunk of money,” he didn’t think mailing the flyers was a bad idea.
Noting he didn’t want to spend a “whole lot of county dollars” on the effort, Commissioner Jerry Daniels suggested some more cost effective measures. “I would, at the minimum, at least put the flyer on the county’s Facebook page,” said Daniels.
He also recommended putting advertisements in the Iola, Humboldt, and Chanute newspapers.
