The Baldwin City Council is likely to cancel a planned Aug. 1 referendum on a half-cent sales tax to help finance a community center unless a private donor comes forward soon, city officials said.

On May 16, the Baldwin school board voted 6-0 to deny a request from the Baldwin City Recreation Commission for the additional 1 mill of taxing authority for the community center’s construction. The added tax authority would have provided $75,000 a year for 25 years to help retire a $3.95 million bond issue to build the center.

The mill levy was only one piece of the financing proposed for the community center. In April, the Baldwin City Council voted to schedule an Aug. 1 referendum on a half-cent sales tax that would provide $202,000 annually to retire a community center bond.

BCRC director Steve Friend said Tuesday he was in talks with a donor about a possible contribution that could replace the revenue from the additional taxing authority. Should the private capital be available, the referendum could still be held, he said.

But Baldwin City Administrator Glenn Rodden said the BCRC was on a very tight timeline to get a private capital commitment and convince the City Council it would be there to replace the mill levy option. If that wasn’t done by mid-June, the City Council would be forced to cancel the Aug. 1 referendum, he said.

Mayor Marilyn Pearse said it was time to move on from the proposed sales tax.?

“With the school board’s decision, I think we should let the sales tax die,” she said. “I think when we voted for that (referendum), it was with the understanding that only with the school board’s approval that would be pushed forward to be put on the ballot.”

It would not be the first time the City Council withdrew a scheduled referendum on a sales tax to fund the community center. After the school board tabled in November the BCRC’s request for a 2.75-mill increase, the City Council canceled a scheduled Feb. 7 half-cent sales tax referendum.

The BCRC scaled back plans for the community center after the board’s November action, reducing the requested property tax increase to 1 mill. Pearse said she thought that the elimination of features like the indoor pool made the community center less attractive to voters and called into question its ability to attract enough users to pay for operational costs.

“The original plan was a Taj Mahal version, but it had appeal to citizens and younger people because of the indoor pool,” she said. “I think with the watered-down version, they wouldn’t have near the participation they think they would.”