By: Ryan Duey
On Tuesday, February 4th the city of Abilene will hold a Special Election concerning a 0.35% sales tax increase to improve the dated recreational facilities in the city. The tax had previously been rejected by a narrow margin of 675 to 608 during the 2024 Primary election.
Kellee Timbrook, Abilene Parks and Recreation Director, said this tax would help generate approximately $3.7 million over 10 years to help fund new multi-use sports fields and other recreation facilities including walking trails, adding pickleball courts and a splash pad in parks, and more. She spoke of the importance of these recreational improvements.
“I think that if we can get improvements made, it helps get people to move to town, it helps bring more people to our town to spend their money here, which also helps pay for the improvements.”
“Things have to be improved and updated eventually, and we’re just at that stage where a lot of our facilities need that. Recreation is an important part of any community; it provides quality of life. I really think this will benefit everyone.”
The sales tax would levy 0.35% of each dollar of sales in Abilene, which would amount to an extra 35 cents added to every $100 spent at retail outlets.
Mammoth Sports Construction, who built the new Abilene football facility, has worked with the Sports Complex Task Force to design and plan the new facilities.
Timbrook said that many people may be unaware of the many sports tournaments and activities that are held yearly at the current recreation sites.
“A lot of concerns we get from our community is we aren’t big enough for tournaments. They say we don’t have enough hotels and restaurants, and what I keep trying to tell people is we’re already holding tournaments.”
“We do four to six volleyball tournaments every year. We host basketball tournaments. We have probably 4 to 5 baseball and softball tournaments yearly. We just had a kid wrestling tournament here about a month ago and they had 500 contestants. And that doesn’t include what the schools are already doing.”
“People come to town and probably get gas and snacks, or hit up the restaurants. So, it’s already here and we’re just wanting to improve our facilities to make them better and draw in more people.”
Early voting is currently underway at the courthouse. On Tuesday, February 4th voting will take place at Holm Automotive from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
