DUNCAN – Duncan’s sales tax for economic development and infrastructure projects will remain in place, but the city is no longer legally obligated to divide the proceeds with the Duncan Area Economic Development Foundation.
Voters approved on June 18 a proposition to extend the half-cent sales tax, which was set to expire this year, for five more years. Unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board show that 1,662 voters favored the proposition, while 1,617 voted against it – a difference of only 45 votes.
The results showed that voters want the city to keep moving forward, Duncan Mayor Robert Armstrong said in a written statement.
“We appreciate the trust the citizens have placed in our council and the vision we have set for the city,” he said. “We will continue to work, supporting Duncan’s infrastructure and economic development needs. We remain willing to partner with anyone who shares our vision of a Duncan for all.”
The sales tax was originally set to expire this year, but now it will continue until 2029. The amount of the tax will not change.
A break from the past Duncan voters first approved the sales tax in 1994 and have renewed it five times since then. The Duncan Area Economic Development Foundation, a private organization that had a contract with the city to promote economic development, received 100% of the proceeds from the tax from 1994 until 2014.
In 2014, the city and the DAEDF began sharing the proceeds from the tax. Half went to the city for road projects and other public improvements, and the rest went to the foundation for economic development projects.
That arrangement continued until this year, when the sales tax w as up for renewal. City off icials took the DAEDF off the ballo t and replaced it with a new entity, the Duncan Area Economic Development Trust.
The trust will now r eceive the proceeds from the tax and distribute half of it to the city for public improvements. The rest of the mon ey will be used f or economic- development projects.
The change will provide greater oversight of how the city spends taxpayers’ dollars, city off icials said in May. They added that the DAEDF may still request funds from the city f or future projects and is encouraged to do so .
‘Evaluation mode’ Despite the change, the DAEDF will continue its mission of promoting economic development in and around Duncan, said the foundation’s president and CEO, Lyle Roggow.
“We’re in an evaluation mode right now as to w hat changes we need to make within our program of work,” he said. “ But we’re still going to be her e to take care of our businesses and still be recruiting business and industry to the community and to the a rea.”