Sales tax for maintaining Columbia parks wins renewal

  • 2015-11-15
On Tuesday, November 3, Columbia voters approved a renewal of a sales tax to benefit local parks until 2021.

The renewed tax is an eighth of a cent and will generate an estimated $18.4m. Those funds also will benefit trails and related maintenance projects. The sales tax measure was the sole item on the ballot for Columbia voters this election.

A total of 8,554 voters cast ballots, and 70.7% of the voters were in favor of the tax renewal, with 29.3% not supporting it. Another 391 voters cast absentee ballots, and two thirds of these voters also elected for the parks tax renewal.

At this time, the people of Columbia pay a quarter-cent parks sales tax. The eighth-cent tax voted on November 3 is eligible for renewal, while the other eighth-center is permanent. The permanent portion was adopted in 2000 and goes toward operating the parks, paying back long-term debt, acquiring new land, and making capital improvements.

One week prior to the election, Friends of Columbia’s Parks 2015, which was launched early last month, ran radio and newspaper ads to encourage voters to choose the renewable park sales tax. The campaign committee also relied on Direct Mail printing and Mailing services to distribute its literature. Mayor Bob McDavid, who completed radio ads for the campaign, said the group employed social media to educate voters as well.

Get a Free Quote for Direct Mail Get a Free Quote for Mailing