Jonesboro Finance Committee To Consider Sales Tax Election
by August 6, 2015 8:01 pm 121 views
A sales tax election may be in the offering later this year as a Jonesboro City Council committee will meet next week to discuss the issue. The Jonesboro City Council Finance Committee will meet at 4 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 11) to consider a Nov. 10 special election, Mayor Harold Perrin said Thursday.
The one-cent sales tax, if approved by voters, would go toward two issues: 7/8-cents of the proposed tax would go toward transportation infrastructure projects in the city; and the remaining 1/8-cents to fund the Jonesboro Economic Development Corp.
INFRASTRUCTURE
During a Feb. 27 speech at Arkansas State University, Perrin said the city has faced a number of major infrastructure issues in the past several years.
At least 125,000 people are in Jonesboro each weekend, with people living there as well as visitors. The increased traffic has created bottlenecks in some areas of town. “We are growing at three percent a year, but we are outpacing our infrastructure,” Perrin said, noting 41,000 vehicles travel each day at the corner of Stallings Lane and Red Wolf Boulevard.
In a statement Thursday night, Perrin reiterated his stance. “Over the past two years, City of Jonesboro engineers have been studying traffic and roadway issues in the city.
They have developed a list of high-priority projects that need to been done to alleviate traffic congestion, deal with capacity issues, and create safer roadways. Chief among the projects is several railroad overpasses,” the mayor said.
He added: “The administration has determined the best way to fund the projects is with a 7/8 cent sales tax that will be dedicated to the improvement of transportation infrastructure. The City Council must first approve a special election to authorize the tax.”
Under the sales tax proposal, the Jonesboro Economic Development Corp. would be created. The 1/8-cents tax collections would be dedicated to economic development projects as determined by the newly created corporation.
The proposal for the tax must be approved by the Jonesboro City Council before it can head to the voters. Perrin said the corporation would be a public entity, with all of its activities open to public scrutiny and subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Mark Young, president and CEO of the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce, said he wanted to thank city officials for their support with working on the issue. “Economic development is extremely important to the success of any city,” Young said.
Separately, city officials said earlier this week that $24.2 million worth of building permits were issued in July, with 88% of the permits being commercial.