FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A majority of Cass County voters living outside a proposed Fargo-Moorhead diversion channel voted Tuesday against a half-cent sales tax to pay for it.

The Forum reports that voters in Argusville, Arthur, Buffalo, Casselton, Kindred, Leonard, Mapleton and Page all opposed the countywide tax with at least 60 percent of the vote.

But Fargo and West Fargo are home to nearly 84 percent of the county’s population, and a majority of voters there favored the tax. That allowed it to pass with 64 percent of the countywide vote.

Proponents say a diversion is the only permanent solution to chronic flooding. Opponents say it’s unclear how the tax money will be spent, and some outside the metro area are unhappy about paying for a project that protects mostly Fargo.

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