Fort Smith voters overwhelmingly approve sales tax extension

Fort SmithNews on the Wire

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) June 9, 2009 9:36 pm 98 views 

By an impressive margin of 90%, Fort Smith voters approved the extension of a 1-cent tax approved in 2006 that would keep the tax on the books to early 2014 — about 18 months longer than the 2006 voter authorization.

City voters on Tuesday (June 9) cast 2,346 votes (about 5.5% of registered voters) in the election, according to results posted on the Sebastian County Web site. The votes were:

FOR sales tax extension: 2,094
AGAINST sales tax extension: 236

The extension will raise $30 million for federally mandated improvements to the city’s wet-weather sewer and water collection system.

The city presently faces administrative and other potential oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice because excessive amounts of stormwater and groundwater enter the city’s sanitary sewer system through cracks and defects in the sanitary sewer pipes and manholes.

Link here to a full report on the issue.