NIXA, Mo. – Voters in Nixa decided not to pass a 1% increase in the city’s sales tax to help fund a new police station and hire more officers.

The ballot question failed Tuesday with 45% voting against the city’s first sales tax increase in 35 years.

Nixa’s Director of Communications said in an interview before the election that the population has doubled in the past 20 years, but the city’s police department and budget for facilities have not.

Nixa Police Department began to raise the issue of a policing budget shortage earlier this year, saying that currently, the police department alone spent about $3.7 million, while the city brought in just $3.4 million, a fund that contributes to more than just the police department.

The city’s sales tax would have increased by 1%. The money would have helped fund a new police station and the hiring of at least 11 more officers, which would cost around $14 million.

Part of the money would have gone toward a new rec center and sports complex, which carries a price tag of $25 million.

Other cities and counties around southwest Missouri had law enforcement funding on the ballot as well. Those include Ozark, Strafford, and Ozark County.