The Chickasha City Council approved an August 8 election for Chickasha residents to vote on a 1.25% sales tax to build a new $72 million water treatment plant. The State Department of Environmental Quality issued the city an order to make improvements to the city’s drinking water.
 The proposed 1.25 percent sales tax would begin on January 1, 2024, and three quarters of the proposal would replace a current capital improvement tax what expires at the end of the year. The net increase in sales tax would be .05 %.
 The treatment plant cost, if the sales tax proposal fails, would then come from increased water rates. Officials say the sales tax rate is the better option for residents as out-of-town shoppers would help pay for the project.
 A 4.25 per cent sales tax rate would keep Chickasha in the middle of other area cities. Blanchard and Purcell have a 5 percent rate; Tuttle, Pauls Valley, and Weatherford, are at 4.5 percent. The combined total for city, county, and state sales taxes would put Chickasha at a 9.5 percent rate.