Harnett County voters have said no to sales tax hike four times, but county officials are coming back for another try this fall, putting the quarter-cent sales tax hike on the November ballot.

The last vote, in 2012, failed by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. Voters rejected similar proposals in 2007, 2009 and  2010.

Residents at Monday’s commissioners meeting said voters might be more willing to support the measure if it were clearly earmarked for new schools.

“If we want to get this approved by voters, the wording must be more concise,” said Lisa Yokum, who spoke in favor of the measure.

“We don’t want this measure to fail again.”

Back in late 2010, JLF assessed the Harnett County situation with regard to increasing the sales tax rate.