County To Seek Half-Cent Sales Tax

The Stone County Quorum Court agreed  Aug. 4  to request that a half-cent sales tax question be placed on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot, with potential proceeds to be used for county roads, law enforcement, and/or emergency services.

Justices of the Peace had previously considered requesting a tax to take effect as the half-cent jail tax expires later this year, but had decided against it until last month when they were urged by Tim Hudspeth, who is poised to take the helm as county judge in January, to reconsider.

The jail tax is to “sunset” when jail construction bonds are repaid, which is expected to be Oct. 1. The county will continue to receive revenue from the tax through October and November as the funds from previous months are collected and disbursed by the state. The amount received by the county in that time – estimated at about $180,000 – will also go toward the jail project.

Public finance attorney Sarah Giammo of the Friday, Eldridge & Clark law firm presented information and guided JPs in considering the ordinances prepared for the ballot issue.

The first ordinance levies the half-cent tax on sales within the county with the proceeds going only to the county. Unlike the existing one-cent county tax, municipalities will not receive a per capita share. The ordinance will take effect only if the measure is approved by voters.

The second ordinance calls for a special election in conjunction with the General Election on Nov. 3 and specifies ballot format. The ordinances are published in the legal notice section of this issue.
If passed, the tax would be levied beginning April 1 of next year, and the county would begin receiving revenue from it in June, Giammo said.

The division of prospective proceeds was based on discussion during a budget committee meeting July 14. JPs had previously discussed the need to commit to uses for the tax revenue as an assurance to voters.

JPs agreed that education of the public will be critical in order for the tax to pass.

The half-cent tax to fund jail construction bonds was approved by voters in 2020, but the accompanying quarter-cent permanent sales tax for operation/maintenance failed. Now that the jail is set to open, JPs are tasked with funding its operation.

In discussing how the construction bonds are being repaid much sooner than the 2030 timeline originally projected, it was noted that sales tax being applied to local online purchases had a big impact.

The half-cent tax is estimated to generate about $1 million per year.

In other business:

• JPs approved a resolution in support of Issue 4 on the Nov. 3 ballot, which would authorized the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to issue general obligation bonds for financing of water-related infrastructure projects across the state through low-interest loans and grants. The bond amount authorized in 2008 will be reached by 2028, so it is necessary for voters to authorize another amount for the programs to continue. The state’s water and wastewater infrastructure needs are estimated at more than $20 billion over the next 20 years, according to the resolution.

• JPs referred to the law enforcement committee the issue of securing IT services for the jail and sheriff’s department. Sheriff Brandon Long told JPs that Chip Doss has been providing services but he is leaving the state. He secured estimates from three companies, including Yelcot, which quoted pricing based on the number of computers.

• JPs accepted the low bid from TECO, Inc., of Mountain View for construction of a bridge on Oxley Road in western Stone County. JP Travis Trammell is principal of TECO and abstained from the vote. TECO was the lowest of seven bidders at $189,133.50. Other bids ranged from more than $268,000 to more than $458,000. Bids were opened Aug. 4 by Project Engineer Robert Chatman of Miller-Newell.

County Judge Stacey Avey said FEMA funds would cover 75 percent of the cost of the project, which involves replacing a flood damaged low-water crossing with a box culvert bridge.

In conjunction with the bid approval, JPs approved a motion recognizing that Trammell is a principal in the company and affirming the action as being in the best interest of the county.