Howell County voters passed one of two countywide measures on Tuesday’s municipal ballot, providing more flexibility for road and bridge spending while rejecting a proposed property tax freeze expansion.
Propostion 1
Proposition 1 passed with a final tally of 2,220 votes in favor to 1,095 against.
The measure allows the county’s roads and bridges department to expand spending beyond materials and contracted work to include equipment purchases and labor. Officials noted that the measure does not increase the current sales tax rate, which has been in place since 2017.
Proposition 2
The second issue put to voters by the county, Proposition 2, sought to expand the current senior property tax freeze to property owners of any age. It failed to gain voter approval, with a tally of 1,820 against and 1,460 in favor.
While proponents argued the measure would have frozen taxes on an estimated 13,850 properties, opponents pointed to a projected $1.43 million decrease in annual county revenue. Those funds are distributed among county schools, fire and ambulance districts, the West Plains Public Library, the sheltered workshop, the health department and the road and bridge department.
