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Voters re-authorize Peñitas Crime Control and Prevention District

Voters re-authorized the Peñitas Crime Control and Prevention District during a special election on Tuesday.

The Crime Control and Prevention District collects a half-cent sales tax, which partially funds the Peñitas Police Department. It adds 1 cent to the bill for every $2 spent on taxable items.

Reimbursements from the Crime Control and Prevention District account for 6% of the city budget. Peñitas budgeted $300,000 in reimbursements for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

The funds may be spent on anything from neighborhood block watch programs to personnel costs.

Just 57 people cast ballots during the special election, according to preliminary results published Tuesday by the Hidalgo County Elections Department.

Twenty people voted at the La Joya Youth Center, according to rosters published by the Elections Department. The remaining 37 voted at the Peñitas library.

They were asked whether or not to extend the Crime Control and Prevention District, along with the accompanying sales tax, for another 10 years.

The vast majority — 44 people — supported the proposition. Ten people voted against it. And three people skipped the proposition altogether.

The results will remain unofficial until canvassed by the Peñitas City Council.

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