Editorial: Voters get sales tax message

Talk about it

We have to admit to being a bit surprised at the outcome of Worthington’s half-cent local option sales tax measure voters approved Tuesday.

It wasn’t that we were necessarily stunned at the result, although there was certainly reason to believe — based upon comments on the Daily Globe Web site and in the community — that the measure would not pass. But the proposal that will provide funding for a new event center as well as much-needed renovations for Memorial Auditorium was not approved in a Coleman/Franken-like squeaker. The local option sales tax received a solid 60 percent of the vote — a figure that would be considered a mandate were it a presidential election.

This newspaper has continued to support the local option sales tax because of clear positives it will bring to the community. An event center will allow for the kinds of meetings and activities that are currently next-to-impossible to host here. Memorial Auditorium, already a grand facility, will become far grander. And, best of all, we anticipate that more people will visit Worthington as a result (and, of course, pay the new half-cent sales tax on purchases — the real coup to this whole deal).

We applaud voters for seeing the wisdom of the half-cent sales tax, and we eagerly await the fruits of these funds.

Tags: opinion, worthington, half-cent, salestax, eventcenter, memorialauditorium