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WASHINGTON CITY — The Washington City Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday supporting the county’s implementation of a 0.25% local option sales tax for road and transit funding. The same resolution outlined the city’s intent to pursue public transit funding so it could qualify for that part of the tax revenue.
Washington City officials have wanted to bring public transit into the city for many years and were on the cusp of doing so in early 2015 until funding issues arose.
“We were a week away from ordering a bus in conjunction with St. George SunTran and actually had a route established but didn’t do it because funding didn’t work out,” Washington City Mayor Ken Neilson said following a City Council meeting Wednesday.
Since then, city officials have looked to other avenues for funding, like the proposed 0.25% local option sales tax that was put before county voters on the 2016. Known as Prop 1 at the time, the measure was killed by voters that year.
The 0.25% sales tax option rose from the grave in 2018 thanks to state legislation passed that year that allows counties to pursue implementing the sales tax. Funds raised by the tax would be distributed among the county’s municipalities and transit districts with the remainder kept by the county for its own transportation and transit projects.