NIXA, Mo. – After getting shut down by voters in November, Nixa is once again asking voters this April for more funding for the police department.

Nixa residents will decide whether to approve a 3/4 cent general sales tax increase.

This time around, the question is solely asking about dedicated funding for police.

City leaders said the department needs to add more officers and build a headquarters that meets the department’s needs for the next 20 years of growth.

“A lot of the misconception was that we needed 80 officers tomorrow and it’s not,” said Major Chad Tennis. “This is strategic planning that we have done that shows the need out to the year 2040 for the number of officers we anticipate, if our growth in the area continues at the rate it has for the past 20 years.” 

Tennis could recall incidents where more staff members would have come in handy.

“When you just put it in perspective of four officers on the street, if I need to secure a home and I do it the most minimal way possible, not the most officer safety minded way, I can put one officer on each corner of that home, and that’s two of my personnel,” said Tennis. “Now they get a domestic or some type of other call that they need to go to, that requires a backup. That’s my entire staff.”

City Administrator Jimmy Liles explained what could happen if the initiative does not pass once again.

“We are going to have to look citywide and to look at what services that we may have to cut,” said Liles. “That’s going to include both the police department and other departments across the city.”

Ozarksfirst spoke to voters who had varying opinions.

Some said they were more prone to vote yes this time around.

Others said they still aren’t sure it will pass.