LOWELL — Voters decided Tuesday to extend a 1-cent sales tax that provides money for the city to operate.
Preliminary and unofficial results from the Benton County Election Commission show 284 or 86% for the tax and 47 or 14% against.
The city’s operating budget for 2021 is $8,751,673, according to its website.
The city expects about $2.5 million a year from the tax receipts, said Jerry Hudlow, Lowell finance manager. Half of the revenue from the tax receipts goes to the city’s general fund and half to the city’s street fund.
The tax pays a significant part of the budgets for the Police and Fire departments, which make up roughly 70% of the city’s general fund spending, Hudlow said. The tax also provides for street, sidewalk and drainage improvements.
Lowell residents voted in 2011 to extend for 10 years a 1-cent sales tax.
City officials expect Lowell to record about 10,000 residents when the 2020 Census numbers are released, Hudlow said. The 2010 Census reported 7,327 residents.