After recount, Nixa sales tax vote stands

A recount by hand yesterday affirmed the original outcome at the polls: No new sales tax to fund capital improvements in Nixa.

But it was another extremely close call.

Falling short by a fraction of a percent, Nixa voters did not support a 1/2-cent capital improvement sales tax by the required super majority. The initiative needed 57.14 percent of the votes to pass, according to a city news release, and the recount brought the tally to 57 percent.

On April 8, the electronic count showed 56.98 percent support.

“We felt we needed a more accurate count,” Nixa Mayor Brian Steele said in the release. “We needed to be sure no vote was missed due to any machine or human error … no matter which way the vote went.”

The recount, funded by Christian County, found five additional “yes” votes, along with another six “no” votes, bringing the total number of votes to 3,056, the release said.

The measure would have allowed Nixa to bond $7.8 million toward a new park development at Gregg and Northview roads and roughly 4.5 miles of new sidewalks around the city. A third project will remain in Nixa’s plans but under a different funding source. Some $1.4 million in improvements at the Highway 14 and U.S. Highway 160 intersection will be funded primarily through the city’s reserves for streets, the release said. The project is scheduled to begin in summer 2016.

Nixa's current sales tax rate is 7.5 percent.[[In-content Ad]]