By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Citing a lack of time to reach out to the public and disagreement among commissioners on the size of a potential sales tax, the Ellis County Commission voted against a quarter-cent sales tax proposed at Monday’s meeting. They will also wait to put a countywide sales tax up for vote.
At last week’s meeting, the commission tabled the discussion on a proposed sales tax designed to help close a budget gap in the coming years. But at Monday’s meeting, Commission Chairman Dean Haselhorst said there isn’t enough time to reach out to the public.
“I’ll just be very up front and tell you both, I don’t think we have enough time to put it on a ballot in November,” Haselhorst told fellow commissioners. “I don’t feel that we have enough time to get everything put together, go out and educate the public on what our needs are. … I think we need to sit back and look at this as the budget progresses forward.”
The commission requested a timeline of work done in 2013 leading up to the special sales tax election with the funds going to pay for improvements to the courthouse and law enforcement center and construction of the Emergency Services Building.
County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes told the commission that the ballot information is due to the printing company by Sept. 5 for the Nov. 5 election.
Haselhorst said it took several months in 2013 to roll out the effort to get a sales tax in 2013 and trying to get it on the ballot in November would be rushed.
“We won’t even be ready to go to the public before July 1. There’s no way,” Haselhorst said. “If we’re going to do it, I want to do it the right way.”
Commissioner Butch Schlyer said he agreed with Haselhorst “100 percent.”
“We’re already into the vacation season, summer activities have started (and) it’s not the best time. People aren’t real receptive to being educated on an issue like this,” Schlyer said. “We really couldn’t get any good education done on this thing until after Labor Day.”
For several weeks, Commissioner Dustin Roths has expressed his support implementing a quarter-cent sales tax, dedicated to county Emergency Medical Services, in front of the voters in November.
He said Monday he believes a sales tax for EMS would be an easier sell to the public than a half-cent tax that went to the county’s general fund or the one in 2013 that went toward building construction and improvements.
“If we do a quarter-cent sales tax directed to our high-level EMS service and we take the time to teach Ellis County about what kind of level of EMS service we have, I don’t feel like that takes as much time as infrastructure as buildings as things like that,” Roths said. “I think this is cut and dry.”
Schlyer said he is in favor of waiting until 2020 because that allows the public to see two budget cycles, and it will allow Ellis County residents to see the dire situation the county is facing.
“They’re going to be well aware of the fact that things are pretty tight here at the county after two budget cycles,” Schlyer said.
“If it doesn’t pass at that point, after the public has seen two cycles of budgets, then it’s just crash and burn time,” he added. “It’s just the way it is. It’s what the public would want.”
After more discussion, Roths made a motion to put the quarter-cent sales tax on the general election ballot. That motion was defeated by a 2-1 vote.
Roths has consistently lobbied for the quarter-cent sales tax while not supporting a half-cent sales tax, but both Schlyer and Haselhorst have suggested in previous meetings they may be more inclined to support the half-cent tax.
“In my professional life and my personal life, when I do something, I want to do it right,” said Schlyer. “We don’t even agree right now on what tax we’re going to have.”
After saying he would not help sell a half-cent sales tax last week, Roths again showed little interest in a half-cent sales tax Monday.
“I believe that we risk raising taxes higher than they absolutely need to be,” Roths said. “I take the idea of us taking money out of hardworking people’s pocket — if we don’t need it, or if it’s not a business decision between us and them — very seriously.”
He said one of the reasons he is against the half-cent sales tax is because the city of Hays would be the largest stakeholder and it would collect money he doesn’t believe it needs.
After the failed vote, Haselhorst said, “We have a lot of work to do, I think, to get this where it needs to be.”
Smith-Hanes will present the commission with another budget update at their first meeting in June.