The Jefferson city council at its Aug. 12 meeting approved ballot language for a renewal of the current 1-cent local option sales and service tax (LOSST) that would give the council more flexibility in using revenues from the tax.
The city currently collects a 1-cent LOSST, with a sunset date of Dec. 31, 2016. The funds can be used only for improvements to city streets, sewer and water, a limitation that resulted from parenthetical information in the original ballot language. At its July 22 meeting, the council discussed broadening the statement to list only “infrastructure.”
The draft the council reviewed Tuesday evening called for the revenues to be used for “repair, maintenance, replacement and improvement of Jefferson’s existing infrastructure.” The council deleted “existing” before approving the final language to allow LOSST funds to be used, for example, to extend a water or sewer line. That would be work on new infrastructure, not existing infrastructure.
Voters in all towns in the county except Churdan, as well as the unincorporated portions of the county, will have renewal of the LOSST on their ballots. The sunset dates are uniform – June 30, 2027. The proposed uses vary.
In Jefferson, the LOSST currently generates approximately $360,000 in revenue annually, according to city clerk Diane Kennedy.
