Edmond voters approve sales tax
City to purchase land near Hafer Park
A quarter-cent sales tax increase was approved Tuesday by Edmond voters in a special election held to finance the purchase of land near Hafer Park.
With all 31 precincts reporting, the proposition passed with more than 81% of the vote (8,187). The election results still have to be certified. Absentee mail-in and early voting results supported the proposed tax 79% (1,145) to 21% (304). Voters in every precinct favored the proposition by at least 60%.
Voters approved raising the city’s tax rate from 8.25% to 8.50% in 2022. At year’s end, the sales tax will return to the previous rate.
The passage of the sales tax will end the current owner’s most recent development proposal, allowing the city to purchase the land for nearly $4 million plus closing costs. The year-long increase in sales tax is expected to generate around $5 million in revenues, according to the city.
“The developer and land owner worked with the City of Edmond and a few citizens to allow this possibility to occur. Now that the sales tax vote has passed, they will do exactly what they promised and sell the land to the City of Edmond prior to the end of this calendar year,” said Todd McKinnis, attorney for the owner and developer of the land, in an emailed statement.
Purchase of the land by the city will bring an end to years of contention over the land’s development. The area has been the subject of a number of referendum petitions led by residents, the most recent opposed to multi-family housing zoning for the development. That petition is part of current litigation, which kept it off Tuesday’s special election ballot.
McKinnis credited “the good-faith cooperation and voluntary actions of the developer and the landowner” in helping bring about the sales tax vote.