The city of Collinsville will vote on whether to expand the half-cent sales tax

Collinsville residents will vote on whether to keep the half-cent sales tax indefinitely.

The current sales tax is 9.17 percent, of which 4.5 percent goes to the city. Voters passed this rate increase in 2022. It would drop half a cent in two years if voters don’t pass the extension on Tuesday. Collinsville City Manager Chuck Ralls said the tax would only be used for a new mechanical sewer plant to replace the aging lagoon system.

“It’s going to go into a lagoon, which is lined to prevent anything from getting into the ground or seeping through, and then it will settle through a series of different lagoons, we have four lagoons here,” Ralls said.

He said if the vote does not pass, residents will see their energy bills increase by 300 percent to pay for the new plant.