Proposed sales tax hike shelved

Mayor John Tyler Hammons yanked his proposal to increase the city’s sales tax to beef up police protection from consideration Monday, offering instead additional time for the department to restructure.

Hammons called this past week for the passage of a 10-year sales tax that would have cost consumers an extra 10 cents for every $100 spent. The tax was expected to generate up to $6 million, which would have been used to hire 10 new police officers and create two more divisions within the department.