Council approves special sales tax election

PRESCOTT – Ordinances were approved at the May meeting of the Prescott City Council Monday night to go forward with a proposed one cent sales tax election.

The purpose of the tax will be to pay the debt the city incurred to SWEPCO during the 2021 ice storm of more than $2 million. Once the debt has been paid, the tax will be removed from the books.

City Attorney James Stayton, pointed out to have the election an ordinance had to be approved with a date set for the election. The proposed date is Aug. 8, 2023. If approved, the sales tax can only be used to pay off the debt to SWEPCO and contains a sunset clause eliminating the tax once the debt is paid.

There was no discussion from the council as two amendments were approved, for the issue.

A third ordinance modified how the city reimburses people for their deposits. In the past, the city paid 6 percent per year on meter deposits, but as this has been a losing proposition for the city financially, the ordinance was approved to change the amount returned to the current rate being paid by banks, currently 0.1 percent.

In other business, the council approved a resolution naming the softball field at McRae Park for Floyd Robinson, a former Prescott resident who had a successful career as a professional athlete and who still contributes funds for the youth in the community.

Jamie Hillery, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, provided the council with her monthly service report and calendar. She said the banquet was successful with Howard Austin being named Treasure of Gold. The added the crawfish boil had a great turnout as well, using the city park, which provided more parking and bathroom facilities. Hillery said the Chamber’s annual cleanup will be moved from June to the fall because it’s too hot in June and hopefully there will be more participation as the weather cools.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, updated the council on Leadership Nevada County, saying the latest session was Quality of Life where the class met with the different civic groups and went to White Oak Lake. However, when arriving at White Oak, it was learned the Camden Leadership team was also there. The decision was made to hold the classes together, something that may continue.

Godwin said she’s still working on houses and yards and there’s a list that can be torn down, several from last year. The city won’t need to rent any equipment at this time as the structures can be razed with city equipment. The problem, she said, has been rain. She added there’s a house on 371 to be torn down, but had bees. Getting in touch with the owners was difficult, but Bruce Bean, office manager, helped and now the city has permission to enter the house, get rid of the bees and tear the place down.