In a primary election with a very low turnout, Kewanee voters Tuesday, by a slim margin, rejected a proposal to add a half-cent sales tax to help fund street repairs.

Unofficial totals from the Henry County Clerk’s office showed the referendum failed with 489 “no” votes, or 51%, to 468 “yes” votes, or 48%.

Only 12% of Kewanee and Wethersfield townships’ 8,678 registered voters went to the polls Tuesday in a primary election where the Democratic and Republican candidates for president have already been decided, and there were few other contested races on the ballot.

“I’m extremely disappointed by what I’m seeing,” Mayor Gary Moore said Tuesday night.

Moore said a general opposition to any tax increase was probably a factor in the referendum result.

“People see ‘tax’ and they just panic,” he said.

If passed, the referendum would have added one-half percent to sales taxes paid in Kewanee. That would have generated about $800,000 annually to pay for street improvements.

Kewanee now receives a little over $600,000 a year from the state Motor Fuel Tax for street repairs. City officials say that’s not enough to keep up with the need for repairs to the city’s 200 lane-miles of streets.

The referendum included a “sunset” provision, so the tax would have stopped after 10 years unless Kewanee residents voted to extend it.

Countywide, just 5,045 of the county’s 35,618 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary.

Of those voters, 3,544 cast Republican ballots, 1,398 cast Democratic ballots and 103 asked for a nonpartisan ballot. In Kewanee, the street tax referendum was the only question on the nonpartisan ballot.

Here are Tuesday’s vote totals by precinct:

Kewanee 1: yes 18, no 36

Kewanee 2: yes 12, no 24

Kewanee 3: yes 18, no 23

Kewanee 4: yes 20, no 17

Kewanee 5: yes 11, no 21

Kewanee 6: yes 16, no 19

Kewanee 7: yes 14, no 24

Kewanee 8: yes 51, no 35

Kewanee 9: yes 22, no 20

Kewanee 10: yes 34, no 34

Kewanee 11: yes 48, no 43

Wethersfield 1: yes 59, no 45

Wethersfield 2: yes 36, no 62

Wethersfield 3: yes 34, no 35

Wethersfield 4: yes 75, no 51