Edwardsville sales tax question fails at the polls

Archive for Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Janet Faircloth votes Tuesday during the Edwardsville sales tax election. The proposed increase failed to pass.

November 3, 2009

Edwardsville residents voted no Tuesday in a special election regarding an increase in the city’s sales tax.

Of the 350 voters that participated in the election, 185, or 52.86 percent, voted no to increase Edwardsville’s sales by a half of a cent. That left 165 voters, or 47.14 percent, in favor of the increase. There are a total of 2,806 registered voters in Edwardsville.

Edwardsville’s sales tax will stay at 7.3 percent.

If the question had passed, city officials had estimated the increases would have brought in an extra $100,000 in income for city operations.

Edwardsville council member Chuck Adams said after casting his vote Tuesday, that if the measure were to fail, it was the fault of the city for not educating its residents enough.

Check out Thursday’s Chieftain for more responses from city officials regarding election results.