The Brown County Board has passed a half-percent sales tax as part of a plan to build a new expo center by a vote of 23-1 Wednesday.
The sales tax in the county will rise from 5 percent o 5.5 percent next Wednesday as a result.
The additional sales tax revenue will be dedicated to specific projects, including a new expo center, according to what was passed by County Supervisors at a May meeting.
The plan required that towns and cities around Brown County sign on to a plan dedicating a portion of room taxes to the expo center construction. Room taxes are paid by guests at hotels, motels, and similar accommodations.
The plan calls for the half-percent sales tax revenue to go toward specific projects in the following amounts:
- Expo Hall: $15 million
- Infrastructure, roads, and facilities: $60 million
- Jail and mental health: $20 million
- Library: $20 million
- Maintenance at Resch Center: $10 million
- Medical examiner / public safety: $10 million
- Museum: $1 million
- Parks and fairgrounds: $6 million
- Stem research center: $5 million
If County supervisors vote to increase the county property tax during the six years the sales tax is in effect, the sales tax will be eliminated.
"Recognizing that we are a larger county in the northeast region, what we do here is important for our surrounding counties and so from that standpoint, it's a big day for Brown County," said Troy Streckenbach, Brown County executive.
The sales tax would only have gone into effect if all seven municipalities in the county agreed to the room tax. The Green Bay Common Council finalized the deal by approving the room tax Tuesday night.
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