The Murray City Council has unanimously endorsed a tax that would raise funds for local parks.
The tax would give those parks 5 cents per every $100 of assessed value of the county’s real property. A petition bearing the tax needs about 3000 signatures in order for it to appear on the ballot in November.
The tax would raise about $1 million for area parks, funding that city council and parks board member Jeremy Bell said is desperately needed.
“There are so many projects in the park that need to be completed or need to be started, repairs that need to be done - that we can’t do that with the money that we get now,” Bell said.
The to-do-list of the board includes repairing the city pool, re-paving roads, installing lights on local soccer fields, improving accessibility of parks for the handicapped, tree maintenance and cleaning up trails.
Bell said the board gets about $300,000 each year from the city and county governments. The petition was first circulated in February and has about 500 signatures.
“I hope people really sit down and study this issue and look over why we need to get this park tax referendum passed,” Bell said. The remaining signatures must be attained by the end of May.
Attempts to contact County Judge Executive Larry Elkins have been unsuccessful. It’s unclear whether the Fiscal Court will also endorse the proposed tax.
