Edmond residents voted Tuesday to continue a one-cent General Fund sales tax and a half-cent 2017 capital improvement sales tax for another 10 years. The General Fund tax supports city operations including police and fire departments, while the capital improvement tax will be directed solely toward road improvements — a narrowing of its purpose compared to prior decade.
Residents have voted to maintain the General Fund tax every 10 years since 1977. Despite the tax renewals, Edmond will continue to have the lowest sales tax rate in the Oklahoma City metro area at 8.25 percent. Without the results seen Tuesday, both taxes would have ended in 2027 and would have created significant funding gaps for key city services and infrastructure improvements.
“Tonight, the residents of Edmond affirmed their commitment to maintaining the high quality of services that define our community,” Mayor Mark Nash said in a statement. “By approving both sales tax ballot questions, voters have ensured continued support for critical public safety operations, street and transportation improvements, and long-term investments in the infrastructure needed to serve a growing Edmond.”
While voter turnout was relatively low Tuesday with nothing else on the ballot, the extensions passed overwhelmingly, with 83.8 percent support from the 6,430 Edmond residents who cast ballots. All results are unofficial until they are certified by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
Lacking an opposition campaign, Tuesday’s election proved far less contentious than last November’s GO Bond proposal, which proposed a new property tax and was shot down handily by voters. Because it appeared on the November 2024 general election ballot, the GO bond election drew more than 48,000 votes.
By comparison, however, Tuesday’s election spurred less turnout than a sales tax increase election in 2021. That election, which drew just more than 10,000 voters, created a temporary sales tax for the city to purchase a controversial piece of property near Hafer Park and add it into Edmond’s park system.
On Tuesday, Edmond resident Louann Randall said after voting that the ballot questions simply kept the taxes the same.
“We’ve got to keep our roads going,” Randall said. “If we’re not going to increase the taxes, why not? That’s a sure yes.”
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‘It makes me mad that people don’t come out and vote’
At Precinct 351, which has a polling location inside the Garvey Center of Oklahoma Christian University, only 40 votes had been cast by 1:30 p.m. Residents who were willing to discuss their decisions seemed supportive of continuing the revenue streams.
“I usually will vote for the sales tax because it makes the city a better place. I don’t always agree with everything, but I’m always going to support the city,” resident David Brown said. “Police protection is important. Once again, I don’t always agree with them, but overall, you always have to do what’s right for the city.”
Resident April Dinger said she voted for the renewal.
“In Oklahoma, as someone that is not a Republican, my voice does not count in a lot of elections,” Dinger said. “So I like to come out to these types of elections to make my voice count more. (…) It makes me mad that people don’t come out and vote, because it is really important.”
No matter the turnout numbers, workers are needed to facilitate the polls, which adds up to be a 14-hour day.
Mary May, 83, said she has not missed an election since she was 18. She serves as her precinct’s judge, one of three prescribed positions for poll workers.
“I’m going to check their ID, make sure they’re eligible to vote. And then I find their name,” May said. “Once I find their name, they have to sign so we know it’s them.”
Tonda Kelly serves as the clerk.
“I listen to [May] whether I need to get whichever ballot that they need, and then I give them the ballot,” Kelly said. “Normally, I let them know where the pens are and where the machine is.”
Roy Roland serves the role of inspector on Election Day. He has served in multiple roles during his time as a poll worker, so many times that he does not recall when he started. As inspector, he collects the ballots at the end of the day and drives them to the county election board.
“I’m in possession of them, but they are sealed,” Roland said. “They’re sealed with a seal that we all three have signed, and we’re all accountable.”
May said she likes to make sure kids get stickers to commemorate the day.
“We have these little children that come in here, and I call them future voters,” May said. “They come in here with their parents, and they’re learning the process at a very early age, which is wonderful.”
May shared her passion for women’s voting rights.
“They used to deny women to vote,” May said. “Women had to fight for that.”
Roland also emphasized the importance of Americans’ right to vote.
“People died for [the right to vote],” Roland said. “I would think that if they understood that, they would vote, because it means something.”
