Newly elected Mayor Sue Hack’s proposal to add a 1-cent sales tax will get a look by her fellow city commissioners, but none of them emerged as a champion for the idea Tuesday night.

All four of Hack’s fellow commissioners said they would need quite a bit more information on a plan she has been touting that would create a citywide 1-cent sales tax to provide funding for a new library, recreational facilities, economic development initiatives and infrastructure projects.

“I think a sales tax is probably the only realistic way to finance a new library, but I’m a little concerned about expanding it out too far,” Commissioner Boog Highberger said.

Hack’s proposal calls for the sales tax to last for 10 years before it would sunset, although voters at the end of the 10-year period could vote to continue the tax.

Highberger said if the sales tax were limited to just a $30 million library, a new 1-cent tax would be needed for only three years.

“Having something we can get finished with quickly might be more palatable to me,” Highberger said.

Commissioners Mike Amyx, Rob Chestnut and Mike Dever all said they thought a more detailed look should be taken at each of the four areas that Hack has proposed to fund – a library, recreational facilities, economic development issues and infrastructure projects.

Dever also said he wanted to take the pulse of the public on the issue. Any new sales tax – by law – must be approved by the voters of the city. Dever, though, said he understood why Hack has made the bold proposal.

“I think the mayor sees that there are a number of issues that need to move off of center, one way or another,” Dever said. “What I’m getting from her is that she wants to have a ‘let’s get down to business’ attitude.”

Amyx, who proposed a 1-cent sales tax last year for infrastructure projects and property tax relief, stopped short of endorsing Hack’s proposal. He said he thought a specific component of a new sales should be to reduce the city’s property tax rate.

“I think property tax relief needs to be a part of any new tax,” Amyx said. “Let’s face it, a sales tax is still a new tax for people to pay.”

Hack said she appreciated the commissioners’ questions on the subject. She said she wants to keep the sales tax proposal on the table as commissioners go through their goal-setting sessions and budget sessions this summer.

“I think that will be a time where some issues rise to the top,” Hack said. “I want to hear those conversations.”