Whiteside County votes down public safety sales tax; nearly 66% of voters say ‘no’

MORRISON — Whiteside County voters rejected a 0.5% countywide sales tax Tuesday to help fund emergency dispatch services.

The measure failed after 65.85% of voters said no to the sales tax, which would have collected 50 cents per every $100 spent on general merchandise bought in Whiteside County and was estimated to raise $2 million annually. The money would have been used to help shore up an annual $500,000 deficit.

A total of 16,913 voters were against the measure while 8,771 were in favor of it, according to unofficial election results posted on the Whiteside County elections website .

Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker said Tuesday night that the only positive thing about the outcome is this time more people voted for the tax than they did last time around.

"Unfortunately, no one wants a tax increase," Booker said. "That's the bottom line. Nobody wants it. This was the best thing for our county, our citizens, and if it would have passed, it would have saved money."

The money derived through the tax would have been able to be used for matters of public safety and any funds left over would have been used to buy equipment and radio and software upgrades while allowing for multi-agency interaction. It would also have eliminated the money Sterling and Rock Falls currently pay for services, placing that money back into their general funds.

Whiteside County Administrator Amy Robbins said dispatch services cost the county $1.8 million to operate, with a yearly deficit of about $500,000. Outside of radio surcharges, she said Sterling and Rock Falls have been footing the majority of the bill.

Over the past year, Sterling paid $392,465 and Rock Falls paid $294,348, totaling $686,813, as part of their agreement to pay for dispatch services. Booker said had the measure passed, that money could have been spent on other things.

Now that the tax has failed, smaller communities in the county, including Morrison, Fulton, Erie, Albany, Lyndon, Tampico, Prophetstown, Coleta, Deer Grove and Fenton, will have to start chipping in to make up the shortfall.

"I don't know how these smaller municipalities are going to pay," Booker said. "Dispatching is an expense. However, I promise at no time is public safety going to be in jeopardy because this didn't pass. We're going to continuously do what we're doing to keep the people safe in our area. If you call 911, it's still going to get answered. These places are just going to have to figure out how to pay for it."

However, Booker said all hope is not lost.

"This will be on the ballot again in April," Booker said. "We're going to continuously push harder to try and get this passed. As long as the County Board is willing to get it on the ballot, we'll try again."