Winn Police Jury Puts Proposed Sales Tax on October Ballot

At the special meeting of the Winn Parish Police Jury held this afternoon, the Jury voted to place a 1% sales tax proposition on the October 19 ballot. The proposed tax will be similar to one that is currently in place, but will allow the Jury more discretion than the current tax does in deciding how the revenue will be spent. This was done so that revenue from the "garbage" tax could also be spent on the related activity of picking up trash along the sides of the roads. As with the current tax the proposed tax revenue will be split between the Jury and the City of Winnfield, with the former getting 60% and the latter getting 40%. The current tax was adopted in 2003 for a term of ten years and will expire next year.

This proposition is expected to be the only item on the October ballot in Winn Parish. Police Jury President Jack McFarland estimated the cost of the election to be around $26,000. That cost will be split evenly between the Police Jury and the City of Winnfield.

No one from the Winnfield city government was present at the meeting. In fact, I was the only person in the audience.