SPOT tax set for general ballot

The Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax (SPOT) is set to appear on the general ballot this year. Voters will be asked to pass a total of $7.5 million to be shared equally among the four municipalities and the county itself.

Representatives from each entity came together again last week to discuss the details of putting SPOT back up for a vote, having already decided unanimously that the revenue from the tax is critical for maintaining infrastructure.

It was decided that the tax should appear on the general ballot, rather than the primary, as it has always been voted on at the general election and has always passed at that time.

“We didn’t want to mess up a good thing,” commented Kathy Lenz, Sundance Clerk-Treasurer, as she shared the findings of an interim meeting between representatives from the municipalities, adding that the extra time would also be advantageous in promoting SPOT to the community.

The only downside of this will be a longer wait until the entities start receiving the proceeds, said Lenz. County Treasurer Mary Kuhl confirmed that the first distribution would be sent out in June, 2021.

The total to be voted on was increased to $1.5 million per entity from the $1.25 million requested on the 2014 ballot.

SPOT, better known as the “sixth penny” or “one percent tax,” is an optional tax with a strictly defined purpose. SPOT has been used to raise extra revenue for counties and towns since it was authorized by the legislature in 1984; in Crook County, it is an additional penny on top of the obligatory four percent state sales tax and the one percent general purpose tax.

SPOT works slightly differently to those first five pennies: instead of running for a certain period of time, voters are asked to approve a specific dollar amount for a specific set of projects. The tax will only remain in effect until this amount has been collected.

Once the total has been reached, no matter how long that takes, the tax will automatically switch off.

Representatives from each community brought lists of the projects that SPOT revenue would be used to complete. Most stuck with the same lists as were presented in 2014, which focused heavily on infrastructure needs such as roads, sewer and water.

County Attorney Joe Baron will now prepare a resolution for the county commissioners to authorize placing SPOT on the general ballot. The entities will then be able to organize a PAC through which to promote the tax.