After failing in three previous elections, voters in Des Moines and five other cities in Polk County on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a 1-cent sales tax increase.

More than 70 percent of Des Moines voters backed the increase, according to unofficial results. And it easily passed in Alleman, Altoona, Pleasant Hill, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights.

The 1-cent sales tax is expected to generate $48.4 million annually that Des Moines and other cities will use to tamp down property taxes and pay for various civic projects.

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This was the fourth time Des Moines voters were asked to consider a 1-cent increase since 1996. Three previous attempts failed, most recently in March 2018.

“I attribute the win to the hard work of all the people who came together and said, ‘This is important,’” Des Moines City Councilwoman Linda Westergaard said Tuesday night.

Backers raised $282,000 — nearly three times as much as in 2018 — to pay for mailers that encouraged voters to support the sales tax increase. They also pushed more people to fill out absentee ballots.

An additional 4,826 people in the six cities voted Tuesday compared to the 2018 vote, according to unofficial totals from the Polk County auditor's office.

"The public was much more informed of the need, and we had a great group of citizens who were passionate about keeping the community safe," Pleasant Hill Mayor Sara Kurovski said.

Seventy-three percent of Pleasant Hill voters approved the increase this year — a big swing from the 65 percent who voted against it in 2018.

Des Moines expects to receive $37 million annually from the sales tax. It will devote of half the money to reducing property taxes. The city plans to cut its tax rate by 60 cents for the coming year.

That was on the minds of several voters Tuesday as they headed to the polls.

“I want to lower my property taxes," Des Moines resident Tony Miller said after voting at Polk County River Place on the city's north side. "I think all them out-of-towners can help pay for stuff.”

Neighbors for Growth and Public Safety, a group that backed the sales tax, estimated that 34 percent of the revenue generated in Des Moines would come from out-of-town visitors.

Des Moines plans to spend the remaining $18.5 million from the sales tax on city services and quality of life initiatives, including street and stormwater improvements, the removal of blighted homes, four to six new rental housing inspectors, and extending public library hours.

Des Moines was also helped by a change in state law last year that previously required the city and its closest neighbors to vote as a bloc on sales tax issues. That rule prevented the sales tax from passing in Des Moines last year.

It also meant that Des Moines did not have to worry about how voters in Johnston or Urbandale would vote. Both of those cities sat out the election this year.

West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer said Tuesday's approval will put the city in line for the largest property tax cut in his memory while also funding a handful of public safety, infrastructure and recreation projects.

“This, to me, is a huge game-changer,” he said.

West Des Moines will hold a special meeting next week to revise its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and to lower the city's property tax rate by 75 cents.

Gaer said the sales tax, which is expected to generate $7 million annually for West Des Moines, will level the playing field for the city's retailers. The western half of the city, which sits in Dallas County, already has the 1-cent sales tax in place.

Altoona Mayor Dean O’Connor called the sales tax "a big win" for his city. It will partially alleviate a property tax increase the city expects to implement in 2020, he said, but Altoona won't be lowering its tax levy like other cities.

“We’ve put it out there that Altoona is a growing community, and our taxes are going to go up,” he said. “But it’s going to be by less now.”

O'Connor said he was impressed by the number of voters who turned out Tuesday. Nearly 2,000 people cast votes — about 600 more people than last year, when 53 percent of voters opposed the sales tax hike.

The sales tax passage in Pleasant Hill helped residents dodge the city's first property tax levy increase in 20 years. If the vote had failed, the city planned to raise the tax rate by $1.88 per $1,000 of valuation, largely to fund a new police station on the city’s east side.

After voting for the sales tax at her polling place at the Pleasant Hill police station Tuesday evening, Kris Westlake said she believed it was better than seeing her property tax bill increase.

“It’s going to come from us one way or the other,” she said. “I’d rather everybody pay versus my taxes go up drastically."

The sales tax will increase from 6 cents to 7 cents for each dollar spent, beginning July 1.

The election results won't be official until they're certified by the Polk County Board of Supervisors on March 12.

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Unofficial results:

Alleman

Yes: 79.31 percent

No: 20.69 percent

Altoona

Yes: 59.47 percent

No: 40.53 percent

Des Moines

Yes: 70.44 percent

No: 29.56 percent

Pleasant Hill

Yes: 73.05 percent

No: 26.95 percent

West Des Moines

Yes: 62.83 percent

No: 37.17 percent

Windsor Heights

Yes: 63.94 percent

No: 36.06 percent

All results are unofficial until certified by the Polk County Board of Supervisors.