EMPORIA (KSNT) - City officials in Emporia have voted to remove a half-cent sales tax question from an upcoming March 2025 ballot amid fallout from the closure of a retirement home and imminent shuttering of a local Tyson plant.
City of Emporia commissioners voted unanimously to remove the question of the half-cent sales tax from the upcoming March 2025 ballot on Dec. 18. The tax would have gone towards providing the necessary funds for a new $59 million recreational center for local residents.
Emporia residents were informed earlier this month the local Tyson Food, Inc. plant would be closing in February 2025. More than 800 workers learned they would need to find new employment following this announcement. The Tyson plant closure is one of the largest mass layoff situations of 2024.
Emporia's Holiday Resort retirement announced it would also be closing shortly after Tyson announced its mass layoff. Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services was forced to step in to help residents find new homes following the closure.
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