Voters living within the Business Loop Community Improvement District approved a half-cent sales tax Thursday night.
The margin of victory was one vote, with four ballots cast in approval and three against.
It took four election judges about twenty minutes to count and verify all seven ballots. While they tallied returns behind the drawn blinds of the Business Loop Community Improvement District office, local press and other interested parties waited in the holiday-muzak-permeated lobby of Parkade Center.
At 7:22 p.m., one of the judges signaled CID Executive Director Carrie Gartner. She retrieved the hand-written results from her office, and read the them aloud.
"I knew it would be very close," Gartner said.
Only 15 registered voters living within the CID boundaries were eligible cast ballots in the election. Gartner said that, after ballots were mailed out on Nov. 30, two were returned because the voters had moved.
After recovering from the shock of the outcome, CID Board President Tom May said he's ready to move forward with long overdue improvements to Business Loop 70.
"I am committed to mending fences, building trust and pointing this ship in the right direction because everybody agrees that something needs to be done, so let's work together to get it done," May said.
The sales tax will begin to accrue in April 2017 and is estimated to raise $200,000 annually.
The CID board went forward with the election despite a last-minute request to postpone, made on behalf of Jen Henderson. In a letter sent to May on Wednesday, Henderson's attorneys raise concerns about the CID board conducting its own election because it has a direct financial stake in the outcome.
Henderson, an outspoken critic of the sales tax proposal and the CID organizers, was previously thought to be the sole voter living within the CID, an unusual situation that drew national media attention. Henderson said her story helped raise awareness across the country about these kinds of tax districts.
"I feel good in the fact that, with this story, I was able to educate a nation about these tiny entities that exist that have so much power," Henderson said.
In September, KBIA discovered the other eligible voters living within the CID.
Though disappointed the sales tax is moving forward, Henderson said she's glad at least she and a few other affected taxpayers had a say in the matter.
"Even if it was a small number, we've now been taxed with representation" Henderson said. She added that she's still considering pursuing challenges to the election's outcome.
Update (11 Dec. 2015, 2 a.m.): Added reaction quotes.