Guthrie County voters say no to local option tax

Voters in Guthrie County said “no” to an additional sales tax on Tuesday. The School Infrastructure Local Option tax would have funded school improvements. The tax failed yesterday with around 53-percent of voters choosing “no,” 557 to 495. Panorama Superintendent John Millhollin says even some school board members in his district were cool toward the plan. “The board felt that we had done quite a bit in bond issues and had improved our buildings, that we didn’t need to ask our tax payers to pay more money.” The measure would have made sales taxes in the county seven-percent. Last fall, voters approved a different one-percent tax to help fund city governments. Millhollin says voters will likely have another opportunity to vote on the question. Millhollin says “I think there is a waiting period, but I would expect it to run again, probably very soon. Now that we know a little more about it, maybe we can come up with a better plan so we can get support in our community also.” This vote also means Guthrie County will not be able to draw from a reserve of funds generated around the state to help pay for education. According to the Department of Revenue, all but 11 counties have approved a SILO tax measure.