Eufaula voters stayed away from the polls in droves Tuesday, Feb. 11, when they had been asked to decide whether to approve a one-cent sales tax increase to help pay for street improvements.
There are 1,618 registered voters in the Eufaula city limits, according to the McIntosh County Election Board.
Of that number, 211 voted – 100 (47.39 percent) in favor of the proposition and 111 (52.61 percent) against.
The 211 figure represents about a 13 percent turnout.
By comparison, slightly more than 500 voted in the April school board election, which was a 31 percent turnout.
In a survey conducted by the city earlier this year, 162 of those responding supported a one-cent increase in city sales tax and only 17 opposed.
Had those 162 showed up to vote, the measure would have passed.
Online comments by some people claimed they were unaware of the election, even though there had been several public meetings on the issue as well as many postings on the city website and numerous newspaper articles.
Obviously, taxes are a sore point with most people.
But so are potholes. People want better streets, but the majority of those who voted last week don’t want to pay for them.
A one-cent city sales tax is the only viable option, according to City Manager Jeb Jones.
An ad valorem tax would put the burden of payment on property owners, he said, while a sales tax spreads the pain among everyone, including visitors.
“Everyone hates taxes,” he said. “I hate taxes.”
But the streets won’t fix themselves, so someone has to pay.
It was suggested online that the city should get grants.
If they could they would, but Jones says a city the size of Eufaula probably would not qualify for a grant in a sufficient amount to pay for the street improvements, which would be about $8 million.
“Larger cities, such as Tulsa and Oklahoma City, are first in line,” he said.
Shiela Edwards of Weleetka, who has been writing grants for the City of Eufaula for 35 years, agrees with Jones about federal grants for city streets.
Edwards said the street grants that might be available “would just be a drop in the bucket.”
The long-time grant writer is currently working on three grants for the Eufaula Fire Department totaling about $1 million, money to be earmarked for a fire truck and equipment.
Jones reacted to the failed 1-cent sales tax proposal.
“I’m disappointed, but at the same time I understand. That’s why the council pursued it the way it did. They presented it to the public and obviously the public did not agree with that funding source. That’s what the process is for,” he said.
Now, the council must go back to the drawing board and have more discussions.
“I, personally, believe a property tax is not the way to go,” he said.
Bottomline, it’s up to the council to decide which kind of funding to pursue.
One option is to pay for improvements strictly using the city budget.
“Do what we can with what we have,” he said.
The piecemeal approach is how streets have been handled in the past.
“Or the council could go back and trim off some of the proposed improvements – may instead of rebuilding a street, convert to overlay. There are a lot of different approaches.”
Including asking for a smaller sales tax increase. Rather than 1 cent, make it a half-cent.
“How we move forward is strictly up to the council,” he said. “It’s important that the council have that discussion and try to formulate a plan.”
He said he had no idea why there was such a small turnout.
“We put out videos the week before the election, trying to keep it fresh in the public’s mind. There were articles in the paper and public meetings. But for whatever reason, they didn’t show up.”
Responding to allegations made online that the city tried to sneak the election by the voters, he noted all the city did to make the public aware.
“The state has predetermined dates for different elections. We can’t control that,” he said.
