Sales tax referendum results show the areas in favor of .5% increase

Area near UW-La Crosse voted in favor by 82%.

La Crosse County leaders are still somewhat surprised by the passage of a sales tax referendum in last week’s election.

County board members have been given a breakdown of how voting on the Premier Area Resort tax – or tourist tax or a .5-percent sales tax on most items sold in the county (pic above) – went in each precinct.

Four local towns opposed the tax; Barre, Onalaska, Burns and Washington. County administrator Steve O’Malley said the city of La Crosse was almost overwhelmingly in favor of the tax. Voters more evenly split in Onalaska.

In one La Crosse ward near the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 82 percent voted in favor but only 39 people voted in that precinct.

Here are the Top 10 wards that voted for and against the PRAT. Click here to see a map coinciding with each ward/precinct.

Only 10 of the 53 precincts in the county voted against the sales tax in an advisory question. The lowest support was in the town of Burns, the Rockland area, where only 43 percent voted in favor.

Election figures showed that more than 600 people who voted for other items on the county ballot chose not to vote on the referendum.

The tax idea would have to come before voters again, if it’s approved by the legislature and the county board.  

The legislature and the county board have to give their approval to the special sales tax to fund highway repairs.