Othello street tax renewal to appear on November ballot

OTHELLO — Othello residents will be asked to approve or reject a proposal to extend a two-tenths of 1% addition to the city’s sales tax to pay for street improvements in the November general election. “That money has been going into the transportation benefit district fund. It’s a sole standalone fund, and those dollars are being used for various street projects, from total rehab of a street to crack seal (and) the smaller things,” said Spencer Williams, the city’s finance officer. “It’s not a new tax. If the members of the public want it, it would continue that tax for the next 10 years.”