Jamestown parks board proposes sales tax extension for capital projects

Jamestown Parks and Recreation is proposing to extend the city’s existing 1% sales tax to finance a new capital improvement plan, shifting the same tax voters approved in 2015 for Two Rivers Activity Center construction into another round of projects. Residents would not face a new tax rate; the question is whether the current penny-on-the-dollar levy should keep flowing to parks and recreation work in Jamestown.

The original tax dates to the June 2, 2015 vote that helped launch the Two Rivers Activity Center, or TRAC, through the organization’s Building Community Campaign. That vote gave Jamestown a major indoor recreation facility, and TRAC now sits alongside the John L. Wilson Arena among the facilities operated by Jamestown Parks and Recreation. The new proposal would keep the sales tax in place beyond that original TRAC purpose and use the money for capital improvements rather than a one-time construction push.

Jamestown Parks and Recreation has not presented a detailed project list in the available material, but the proposal is framed around ongoing capital needs for the city’s parks and recreation system. That puts the focus on how the department handles larger projects, not day-to-day operating costs, and on whether voters want the tax to remain tied to future building and renewal work instead of ending after the TRAC era.

The city’s budget documents show why the proposal lands in a familiar local lane. Jamestown’s 2025 final adopted budget, approved by the City Council on Oct. 7, 2024, includes a dedicated city sales tax fund, underscoring how central sales-tax revenue remains to municipal planning in Jamestown. In that setting, extending the 1% levy would keep a known funding stream in place for capital work tied to parks and recreation assets already in city hands.

The Jamestown Sun identified the proposal as one to extend the 1% sales tax for a capital improvement plan. For Stutsman County residents, the decision will come down to whether the tax that once paid for TRAC should now keep paying for the next round of parks and recreation construction and upgrades across Jamestown.