Jonesboro Sales Tax Campaign Starts

The city of Jonesboro is at the proverbial “fork in the road,” Mayor Harold Perrin said Monday, as the plan to complete nearly $187 million in road projects was formally unveiled as part of a special election campaign.

Jonesboro residents will head to the polls Nov. 10 to decide the fate of a proposed one-cent sales tax. According to the proposal, seven-eighths of a percent would go toward roads, construction and overpasses while one-eighth would be used for economic development.

If approved by voters, the tax would collect about $16 million a year in revenue with the vast majority ($14.1 million) going to roads and $1.9 million going to economic development.

As of now, the city has an 8.5% state, county and city sales tax. If approved by voters, the number would go up to 9.5%.

The tax would also expire in 2026.

Perrin said he has worked with city and state highway officials for the past two-and-a-half years to develop a strategy. The work found at least 18 projects all over the city that need work. Perrin said the projects would be addressed by officials in a safety and capacity issue.

City traffic engineer Mark Nichols told the group that many of the projects were needed to alleviate traffic concerns. There are at least 33,000 vehicles each day that travel on Southwest Drive at Main Street, Nichols said, while U.S. 63 and U.S. 49 sees about 42,000 vehicles a day.

Nichols said a new railroad overpass at Ark. 351 (Airport Road) would help avoid traffic issues where 60 trains cross each day. A link to Commerce Drive would create a bypass around Caraway Road and Red Wolf Blvd., while several connections and extensions (Kellers Chapel, Bowling Lane and Kersey Cove) would improve traffic near schools and help police and firefighters get to an area quicker, Nichols said.

The 18 projects under consideration and the estimated cost are:

· Ark. 18 Railroad Overpass – $15 million.

· U.S. 49 and Ark. 351 Improvements – $51 million.

· Ark. 18 at Caraway Road – $4 million.

· U.S. 49 at Southwest Drive and Parker Road – $4 million.

· Ark. 18 at Southwest Drive and Main Street – $2.5 million.

· Ark. 351 Railroad Overpass – $6.2 million.

· Ark. 18 Widening – $6.6 million.

· U.S. 63 at U.S. 49 interchange – $2 million.

· Ark. 91 (Dan Avenue) Railroad Overpass – $34.5 million.

· Ark. 18 South (Commerce Drive) – $43 million.

· Ark. 91 and Ark. 141 – $1.4 million.

· Kersey Cove Extension – $2.5 million.

· Kellers Chapel Road Extension – $7.8 million.

· Bowling Lane Connection – $5.4 million.

· Gee Street Railroad Overpass – $8.5 million.

· South Caraway Road Widening – $7.5 million.

· Patrick Street Widening – $33.2 million.

· Race Street Widening – $6.5 million.

Perrin said the cost sharing between the state and local government could be between 80/20, 70/30 and 60/40, depending on the project.

“Cost sharing is going to be key,” Perrin said.

Perrin was also asked a question about whether or not the city could take existing funding to complete the projects. He said there was not enough money in city reserves to cover the costs, noting the city would have to take reserves to fill in a $6 to $7 million deficit in capital expenses by the end of the year.

The mayor also gave an example. He said he was sworn in in 2009 for his first term, facing an ice storm within one month. The storm cost the city $1.9 million and it took nearly two years to get reimbursed from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Perrin said.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Mark Young also spoke Monday.

Young said the economic development proposal would create the Jonesboro Economic Development Corporation, with a seven-member board appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council.

The corporation’s activities would be open to the public, with its records subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Young said the corporation will work to create jobs, acquire land for economic development projects, build infrastructure to help businesses and provide incentives to companies interested in locating in Jonesboro.

A recent study by Avalanche Consulting, done for the chamber, showed transportation/infrastructure as the number one weakness facing Jonesboro.

The concept, set by state law, has been used in about a dozen or so Arkansas cities and counties, Young said. Among them are Cross County, El Dorado, Mississippi County, Russellville and West Memphis, officials said.