September 9 is an important day in the lives of all McClain County residents.

The passing of the permanent 1/2 cent county sales tax is a mini fire insurance policy, a school and county-wide law enforcement protector and a provider of food and camaraderie for senior citizens.

The 1/2 cent sales tax provides for fire departments in small communities like Wayne and Washington.

Without those volunteer departments, residents in those communities would face increased response time from full-time departments forcing up their ISO ratings and forcing up fire insurance premiums, not to mention increased loss of homes and property.

Without it, entire school systems could be without a fire department in their community.

The 1/2 cent provides salaries for 22 sheriff department deputies which includes School Resource Officers at numerous McClain County towns.

It gives Sheriff Landy Offolter the ability to keep more deputies out on the streets around the clock seven days a week.

The 1/2 sales tax provides a hot meat in the middle of the day at senior citizens centers where seniors not only have good food but enjoy the camaraderie with their peers.

And those things don’t include 4-H and OSU Extension, county facilities, emergency management, the free fair and economic development.

The sales tax revenue comes from not only county citizens but any visitor that passes through and makes a purchase.

The county is going to continue to grow because people want to be close to the metropolitan area.

It is imperative to keep this 1/2 cent going to keep the county strong.

The extra funds provided allow commissioners to do general maintenance projects around the courthouse like new sidewalks, new stairs up to the third floor, paying for a new roof and new windows and doors.

County officials consider it a blessing to have a few extra dollars to keep the people’s house up to date.

Along those lines the courthouse HVAC system is 20 years old and will soon need replacing.

The half a penny will keep those options open.

The list goes on and on.

And, it’s a very cheap insurance policy.

For every $1,000 you spend, it costs you $50. That’s $5 on a $100 purchase and a nickle on a $10 purchase

It’s imperative countians vote to extend the 1/2 cent and keep it on permanently.

Vote yes September 9.