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Residents in Washington County voted yes to renew the quarter-cent sales tax on Tuesday evening.

The proposition passed on a 1,016 to 557 vote. In total, 1,573 people voted on Tuesday.

The passing of the proposition to renew the quarter-cent sales tax will go a long way for facility maintenance in Washington County.

Sheriff Scott Owen said without the Detention Center would have been in a world of hurt without the renewal of the quarter-cent sales tax. The Detention Center would've had to have come up with an extra $850,000 to $900,000 every year to maintain the building and staff if it failed to pass.

The Washington County Detention Center is 10-years-old. Sheriff Owen said with buildings that are that old, you start to see infrastructure and support system failures. The revival of the quarter-cent sales tax will help maintain the facility and many others in the County.

The County Fairgrounds in Dewey will see improvements as well thanks to the voters’ approval to renew the tax. District 3 Commissioner Mike Dunlap said in the past there were grant opportunities in the past that they were not able to match when it came to trying to do more for the County Fairgrounds.

In the last election when the quarter-cent sales tax was introduced, the ballot specifically stated that the tax would was to benefit the County's roads and bridges, and the operation of the jail. The County had to hold true to that for 10 years. Now they have the freedom to pursue change at the Fairgrounds as revenues hopefully continue to grow.

The Emergency Operations Center will also benefit from the renewal of the tax. The EOC played a crucial role in water rescues when flooding the area on Monday, May 20th. Those disastrous conditions lasted well into June.

Sheriff Owen said the Sheriff's Office depends heavily on the EOC when it comes to disaster situations and traffic control when accidents arise. He said they also have a huge impact on the 12 volunteer fire stations within the County.

Lastly, the upkeep of Washington County’s roads and bridges also benefit from the revival of the quarter-cent sales tax.

Commissioner Dunlap said without the passage of the quarter-cent sales tax, the County may have had to pull the funds that help maintain the County roads and bridges. He said the renewal of the tax secures what they are able to do on an annual basis and he said he knows the residents want the County to do more, but this is the way they can get "more bang for your buck."

In District 3 alone, there is 180 miles of roadway that needs to be maintained and there only 9 employees that work on those stretches of road.