FARGO (AP) - Residents in three Cass County cities are considering sales tax proposals.

City officials in Leonard, Mapleton and Kindred say a 1-cent sales tax would generate much-needed revenue for street and sewer repairs, more clean water and improvements to community facilities.

Residents of the three cities will vote Nov. 7 on home rule charters that would allow them to enact a sales tax.

Several North Dakota cities establish sales taxes to supplement revenue collected from property owners, Leonard Auditor Marcia Wendling said.

"We need to generate some kind of revenue other than putting specials on property owners," she said. "(A home rule charter) gives the city government a little more freedom to generate other forms of income."

A 1-cent sales tax would generate $8,000 to $10,000 a year in the town of about 290 people, according to state projections.

Mapleton voters approved a 1-cent sales tax last November but rejected the charter needed to legally establish it, Mayor Jeff Shirley said.

"There might be a fear that the City Council has all sorts of additional power" under a home rule charter, Shirley said. "It actually gives citizens more power to vote on issues that might otherwise be directed by the state."

Sales tax revenue would help pay for water and sewer storage, which will likely reach capacity in a few years in the town of about 650 people, Shirley said.

Sales tax revenue could be used for community improvements and would also partially cover the revenue shortfall from two tax-exempt housing developments, Kindred Mayor Bob Clarke said. Kindred has about 700 residents.