(Le Mars) — Voters in Plymouth County will have the opportunity to go to the polls on Tuesday and cast their vote on the Local Options Sales Tax issue. Originally, the local options sales tax was voted upon by Plymouth County voters in 2002 to help finance the Plymouth County Law Enforcement Center. However,each Plymouth County community has been able to benefit from the funds generated from the one percent tax. The current local options sales tax is set to expire at the end of 2016. One entity that would like to see the local options sales tax pass is the Floyd Valley Hospital. Mike Donlin is the administrator for the hospital. He says future funding to assist the hospital’s expansion north addition project may depend upon the local option sales tax. Donlin recently approached the Le Mars City Council seeking financial assistance since the hospital is a municipal owned hospital. He says the city helped finance the hospital during its last expansion which was nearly 40 years ago, and he was hoping the city would again show support for the current expansion.
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Some people may be a bit confused as to whether this is a new tax. Technically speaking, it is a new tax, but only because the initial tax is set to expire, Donlin says people are already accustomed to contributing the one percent on retail sales.
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The hospital official hasn’t seen any organized opposition to the continuation of the local options sales tax, and he believes the majority of people favor the measure because it has benefited each Plymouth county community and the rural areas.
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Donlin says the local option sales tax is not just a Le Mars issue, but a county-wide issue, and he says the Floyd Valley Hospital serves people other than just Le Mars residents.
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