SILT — The town of Silt will be asking voters this November to either approve or reject a sales tax rate hike on local retail transactions.

At a meeting on Aug. 12, Mayor Dave Moore and Trustees Jeff LaValla, Sonny Fernandez and Paul Taylor voted to put the question to the voters, while Trustees Rick Aluise, Brian Fleming and Keith Richel voted against the decision.

The tax increase, according to Town Administrator Pamela Woods, would be 0.75-cent added onto the existing sales tax rate of 3 cents on every dollar of sales by local stores.

That would be a 25 percent increase over the old sales tax rate.

Woods noted that the tax hike was approved only on first reading at the Aug. 12 meeting, and that second reading will be on the agenda for the Aug. 26 meeting.

The proceeds of the sales tax are to be split, with 0.5-cent being used for economic development projects and programs, and 0.25-cent to go toward the town’s parks and recreation programming.

After six years, however, the entire 0.75-cent tax is to be redirected to the town’s general fund, to pay for day-to-day operations of the various governmental departments, Woods said.

Woods reported that the trustees have no specific economic-development programs or projects in mind for the income from the tax rate hike, if it is approved by the voters.

The same is true, Woods said, for the parks-and-rec portion of the tax income.

The tax hike, if approved, is expected to boost the town’s revenues by $160,000 per year, Woods said.

jcolson@postindependent.com