Towns, County, City Make Appeal for Optional 1-Cent Sales Tax; Edgerton Relies on $60,000 Annual Funding

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Edgerton, populaiton 196, would be hurting without the renewal of the optional one-cent sales tax, its mayor said Monday.

"It's been with us for 30-some years," Buck King said at a news conference of 1-cent proponents at the Mills Municipal Court on Monday.

"I don't see any reason for us to not do it again," King said.

The optional one-percent sales tax No. 15, if approved by voters in the general election, is projected to raise about $20 million a year for from 2015 through 2018.

The money, according to state law, is distributed by the populations of a county, ciites and towns within a county.

With its small population, it stands tol receive about $60,000 to $65,000 a year, which is one-fifth of the town's entire budget of about $300,00, King said.

That $60,000 enables the town to keep a full-time secretary and a full-time maintenance man, he said.

Without the renewal, the town would have to cut their hours to a bare minimum so they could receive benefits, King said.

It would delay some improvements and cut into savings reserved for emergencies such as water line repairs, he said.