Jersey County voters have two issues that are attracting considerable attention on their ballots for the Tuesday election – one about the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law and the other a sales tax question asking whether a rate of 1 percent can be used in Jersey County exclusively for school facility purposes.
The sales tax question failed by a slim margin in the last election. Voters in Illinois will be able to go to the polls starting at 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Contact the County Clerk office in your county to check your polling place.
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The Jersey County Clerk’s office said turnout has been high so far in the office for in-house voting, with 340 votes cast as of last Thursday. The office was closed for Good Friday. The Jersey County Clerk’s office said the turnout should be solid on Tuesday for the general election.
Jersey County Superintendent of Schools Lori Hopkins said she has been speaking throughout the county on the sales tax issue and also answering some questions about the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law vote.
Three of Jersey’s buildings – the high school, East Elementary and Grafton Elementary are all relatively new buildings, but other buildings in the district are not and the superintendent said are in need of repairs.
Some examples used for the sales tax would be items like shampoo, conditioner, a pair of shoes, clothing at Wal-Mart or gasoline or buying a television.
“We have health safety plans mandated by the state and mandate that we get the older facilities up for code,” Hopkins said. “It is an opportunity for every individual to pay toward this rather than property tax owners only.
“For example, we have individuals who come to Grafton quite a bit. We had a gentleman do research data that showed that 40 percent of the retail items or merchandise bought in Jersey County was from out of county residents.”
These are the two key ballot questions for Jersey County residents:
JERSEY COUNTY REFERENDUM
“Shall the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (35 IL CS 200/18-185 through 18-245), which limits annual property tax extension increases, apply to non-home rule taxing districts with all or a portion of their equalized assessed valuation location in Jersey County?
Yes
No
SALES TAX QUESTION
Shall a retailer’s occupation tax and a service occupation tax (commonly referred to as a “sales tax”) be imposed in the County of Jersey, Illinois, at a rate of 1 percent to be used exclusively for school facility purposes?
Yes
No
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