City of Pella voters decided to extend the Local Option Sales and Service Tax in Pella during a special election Tuesday.

In total, 56% of voters said yes to extend the measure 20 years, to run from January 1st, 2024 to December 31st, 2043. The revenue comes from a one percent sales tax on top of the six percent from the State of Iowa, and has funded quality-of-life and infrastructure projects in the City of Pella since 2001.

Pella Mayor Don DeWaard thanks the nearly 2,200 voters who made their voices heard Tuesday, and is thankful for the stability renewal of the tax provides in future budgets and for significant upcoming projects.

“It was a win for the community,” DeWaard says. “It doesn’t have anything to do with me or the city council — this is a win for the community, and gives us an opportunity to use these funds to do a lot of really good things in this community, so I would thank the voters for turning out and expressing their opinions.”

Now that the LOSST extension has been approved, the Pella City Council is awaiting feedback from a committee formed earlier this year tasked with outlining priorities for a new recreation center to be potentially constructed at the Pella Sports Park — with the key funding for the effort coming from bonds loaned against revenue generated by the sales tax, private fundraising, and other public funds from Marion County and the State of Iowa.

DeWaard says several meetings and hearings about the project are coming up later this fall into the winter, and the goal is to break ground on a new facility by next spring, assuming approval of plans by the council.
Results from the election can be found here.