Nixa sends tax increase proposal to voters

City of Nixa voters in November will decide on a tax increase proposal that officials are seeking to pay for facility projects and a larger police force.

Nixa County Council on Aug. 22 voted unanimously to place the question on the Nov. 8 ballot, according to a news release. It asks voters for a 1-cent sales tax increase, which the release said would amount to $1 more for every $100 spent in Nixa.

Earlier this month, Nixa administrators proposed the tax to pay for some $39 million worth of parks and police projects. The Nixa Parks & Recreation Department has the largest proposal up for consideration: $25 million for an 80,000-square-foot indoor sports complex, according to past reporting. The Nixa Police Department is proposing a new three-story headquarters at a cost of $13 million, as well as nearly $1 million added to the annual budget for 11 additional police officers.

"Increasing the sales tax is the only way the city will be able to afford the proposal to add more police officer positions, build a new, larger Police Department headquarters and add a new indoor sports complex," City Administrator Jimmy Liles said in the release. "We just can’t stretch our current revenues far enough to afford these projects. We have been frugal. We have stretched our dollars as far as they can go.

"To keep up with the community’s growth and invest in these projects, we will need more revenue.”

The city's general sales tax has not been raised since 1987, officials said.