Trent citizens have collected enough petition signatures to refer the addition of a second penny sales tax to a town vote.

After petitions were circulated, 26 signatures were collected. Of those, five were thrown out with one not being able to vote and four filling it out incorrectly, said Kim Nelson, city finance officer. The number of signatures more than meets the requirement to get a issue referred to the ballot.

The Trent town board voted unanimously Nov. 13 to add the second penny sales tax, a tax that most municipalities in the state already have. Trent is one of 30 towns that still collects 1 percent. Cities can change the rate only on Jan. 1 or July 1 each year, and Trent planned to add the tax July 1, 2018.

The petition will need to be reviewed by a lawyer, and the board will decide at its Jan. 2 meeting if it needs an emergency election or if a vote could be held at the regular election in April, Nelson said. At that time, board member Jonathan Damm’s seat also is up for election.

At the town board regular meeting last week, board member Matt Larson challenged a meeting that was held Dec. 4 to talk about the petition and two other matters. The meeting was held without giving notice to the public, which is a violation of the state open meetings law, he said.

State law requires that meetings be posted for the public to see at least 24 hours in advance. Trent typically posts its meeting agendas on the city office door. Failure to properly post a meeting can be charged as a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine or a complaint can be filed with the state’s Open Meetings Commission.

Nelson and board president Bob Dickey agreed that the town did not notify the public about the meeting, which they said was an executive session and not a public meeting. During that meeting, board members discussed the petitions, how the board should handle the fire department serving alcohol at fundraising events and whether Trent needs to hire a different city attorney. At issue with the fire department is where they buy their booze, who is allowed to serve and what does insurance cover. Damm made a motion that the board should work with the fire department to figure out how they can serve alcohol at events, and Dickey voted in favor of that, Nelson said. Larson abstained from voting.

Last July, Trent council members started talking about the change to a second penny sales tax after looking at the city budget, Nelson said. The board decided it was a good idea to add the addition 1 percent tax because the community’s reserve money is going down, and city leaders wanted to make sure there is enough cash in case of an emergency, she said.

If the change is upheld, patrons at the handful of Trent businesses will pay an additional penny on each dollar in sales tax next July.

The change would increase the sales tax to 6.5 percent, on par with most communities. South Dakota has businesses collect 4.5 percent in retail sales tax, and each community has the option of collecting up to 2 percent.