To extend or not to extend a half-cent sales tax is the question on the ballot Tuesday.

Voters within the city of Pryor will go to the polls to decide the answer. Pryor Mayor Jimmy Tramel said the proposed tax extension will fund street repair, a new city hall and a roof for Pryor Creek Recreation Center.

Tramel said the bond that funded the construction of PCRC will pay off by November. If the half-cent tax funding that bond is allowed to expire, Pryor city taxes will decrease from 9.625 percent to 9.125 percent. Consumers will save $5 for every $100 spent.

Tramel is asking voters to continue the tax. If the extension is approved, Tramel said he will take out a 15-year revenue bond for $7 million.

“June 14th, vote yes for the bond issue,” said Tramel. “I encourage everybody to go out and vote for it.”

Tuesday’s ballot defines the uses of the bond proposal as follows:

1) constructing and improving streets and related drainage facilities and utility relocations;

2) construct, equip and furnish a new city hall;

3) repair, refurbish and equip the existing municipal recreation center.

The ballot further states the sales tax will be used for “the payment of principal of and interest on any indebtedness, including refunding indebtedness, incurred by or on the behalf of the City of Pryor Creek, Oklahoma, for such purposes.”

Though the ballot does not specify an expiration date or the amount of the bond, the resolution passed by city council on April 12 states that the tax “shall in no event exceed 15 years” after it becomes effective.

Based on current sales tax, a revenue bond of $7 million will pay off in less than 15 years, said Tramel. The mayor said $7 million is the maximum amount that can be borrowed in a 15-year period.

Tramel said $4 million will be designated for street repairs and improvements.

“North Elliott and Northeast First will be the first two the city will look at,” said Tramel. He said city council will have to approve which streets are fixed. “Four million will not go far.”

The mayor said the cost to repair a one-mile section of street is $500,000. The city has identified $23 million worth of needed repairs.

The remaining $3 million of the bond will fund a new city hall and a roof for the rec center.

“Roof leaks like a sieve,” said Tramel. In addition, the mayor said the rec center patio must be fixed. The patio on the northeast side of the facility has sunk approximately eight inches.

“If this bond issue doesn’t pass, there won’t be any more streets fixed in three to five years,” said Tramel. He said the street department is $500,000 in the hole and can only afford to patch streets. The department takes in $1.2 million each year in sales taxes, and $1.7 million has been spent this year.

“I strongly urge you to vote yes on Tuesday, June 14, for the $7 million city bond issue to be paid off with the same sales tax that built the recreation center,” said Tramel. “This is not a new tax. The current rates will remain the same for the 15-year life of the issue.”