Did the primary election vote in August give us any kind of read on the prospect for passage of the 1-cent optional sales tax in Park County in November? Were people connecting any dots to the candidate positions on the sales tax?

Probably not. But just for the heck of it, check these ballot results.

Powell Mayor Don Hillman won in a landslide in his bid for re-election. He has been an outspoken advocate for the optional sales tax to fund infrastructure projects. His primary victory was a lop-sided 780-164 over second-place finisher James Andrews, who has proclaimed it is time to say no to the optional sales tax and to make cuts.

In the contested Park County Commission race, incumbent Lee Livingston led the primary voting by nearly 700 votes. He voted to put the tax measure on the ballot in November for the people to decide, but he says he will not campaign for or against it.

Jake Fulkerson also won nomination by finishing second in the commission primary race. His position on the sales tax has been consistent. He has maintained an official posture of neutrality, but he says he personally supports the optional 1 cent. He does not, however, intend to take a leadership role in promoting a positive vote in November.

For the record, the third-place finisher in the commission primary was Richard George, who expressed outright opposition to the tax during his primary bid, saying “Sales tax increases are not the solution to lazy governance.”

Though interesting, it would be going too far to say the sales tax issue decided any of the races. The sales tax was not on the primary ballot. It will be front and center in the November general election, when the presidential race can be expected to bring several thousand more voters to the polls.

Four years ago, the optional 1-cent tax in Park County was resoundingly defeated by a margin of 60 to 40 percent. The “no” vote was even more overwhelming in the rural areas of the county.

The sales tax proposal comes back in a new form this year after a survey by local governments suggested it had a better chance as a specific purpose 1-cent tax than a general purpose optional 1 cent. The specific purpose tax defines $13.68 million in projects that would be funded in the county and in Cody, Powell and Meeteetse if passed. When that amount of money has been raised by the extra 1 cent, it goes away. Additionally, the optional sales tax dollars could only be spent on the defined infrastructure projects, not used to finance general purpose operations of government.

The specific purpose optional 1-cent has been successful before in Park County, most recently in financing the aquatic center in Powell, the county library in Cody and a pool renovation in Meeteetse.

It also appears there is a new wrinkle in presentation this time around. In 2012, a political action committee raised money and pushed hard in public for the 1-cent tax for infrastructure. Not so this year, or at least not yet with formal structure.

With candidates looking for votes, it’s almost as if there is a reluctance to get too close to the sales tax issue. It’s not hard to sense. The sales tax issue can be toxic.

Even Mayor Hillman, though willing to say he’s definitely in favor of the optional sales tax, steers people in his public presentations to the fact sheets that describe the projects and advises people to make up their own minds. “If you think it needs to be done, vote for it.”

Then, in something of a wave in the direction of the vocal anti-tax crowd, Hillman adds with emphasis: “Don’t let anyone else tell you how to vote.”

The two county commission finalists who came through the primary process stop short of cheerleading for the optional sales tax in any way. When it comes to his personal vote, Livingston won’t even express an opinion up or down, saying on this one he’s just another Park County voter. Fulkerson is on record with personal support, but that’s as far as he will go.

Maybe this approach is smart. There was criticism four years ago that the optional sales tax was promoted as if the end of the world was threatened if it didn’t pass.

Hillman wants to stay above that. “We didn’t need to improve downtown when we did the main street project, or we didn’t absolutely need to widen the highway between Powell and Cody, or build out our electrical system. But they were the right things to do, and I’m glad we did,” he said.

We’re only a little over two months away from the sales tax vote. In coming weeks, we’ll do our part to help people decide the merits of the collective $13.68 million in projects by reviewing each of the four pieces covered by the proposal.

Our goal, like Mayor Hillman’s, is to help people make up their own minds.