The results are in, and Butler County residents have voted to approve a 1/4 cent countywide sales tax to pay for upgrades to the county's emergency communications system.
At their Monday meeting, Butler County Commissioners finished opening mail ballots, finding that 40 percent of registered voters returned their ballots with approximately 10,000 voting in favor of the sales tax and 4,000 voting against it.
The new sales tax will begin on April 1, 2010 and will be in place for 10 years or until the upgrades are paid for, depending on which comes first.
The switch to a digital radio communications system is expected to cost around $12.9 million.
This is the first countywide sales tax approved in Butler County. Also at their Monday meeting, the commissioners received a video presentation from EMS director Grant Helferich. The video showed the EMS staff in action and also featured thank you notes to the department from those who had been helped.
