Voting locations set for Sebastian County sales tax election

Broken air conditioning led the Sebastian County Election Commission to move a second voting center to a new location for the Aug. 8 special election on the county-wide sales tax.

During a Zoom meeting Thursday (July 27), the commission voted to move one of the vote centers from Baker Senior Citizens Center, 3600 N. Albert Pike, to Nelson Hall Beckman Center, 2100 N. 31st St. The move was approved unanimously by the two commissioners attending the meeting – Randy McFadden, chairman, and Carolyn Mosely. Cara Gean did not attend the meeting.

“We had a call from Baker’s Senior Center yesterday that their air conditioning unit has failed,” said Meghan Hassler, Sebastian County election coordinator. “We could still use the facility, but she says it is very, very, very hot, there will be no air conditioning for Aug. 8.”

Thursday’s location change was the second for the election. The election commission held a Zoom meeting on July 13 for the emergency move of the Ramsey Middle School Tornado Shelter Vote Center to the Fairview Elementary School Tornado Shelter, 2400 S. Dallas St. As with Thursday’s vote, the move was approved by McFadden and Mosely. Gean was not present. The move was necessitated because of the small fire in the orchestra room at Ramsey Middle School on June 27.

Hassler said Nelson Hall is usually one of the area’s voting locations, but the county had asked the election commission to reduce the number of locations for the special election.

The Sebastian County Quorum Court recently approved an ordinance to set a special election for the question of the continuation of the levying of a countywide 1% general sales and use tax within the county. The tax was first approved by voters in the county in 1994. It has been renewed twice for a 10-year interval, the last during a special election May 14, 2013. The tax is set to sunset June 30, 2024.

Collections from the tax are divided among the 11 municipalities in the county and the county itself based on a per capita percentage, said Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz. Of the $33.768 million collected from tax in 2022, 85.8% went to the towns and cities inside the county. The county received 14.2% in 2022 or approximately $4.8 million. The tax makes up about 10% of the county’s funds, Hotz said.

The Fort Smith portion of the countywide sales tax – which was 69.8% of the total collections in 2022 – provides $23 million per year into the general fund, which provides the majority of the funds for the fire and police departments, City Administrator Carl Geffken said, noting that the revenue is incredible important to running the city. Greenwood received approximately $2.5 million from the tax in 2022, which was 7.4% of the collections.

Early voting for the election will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 1) through Aug. 4 and Aug. 7 at the Sebastian County Courthouse, Room G8, 35 S. Sixth St., and the Greenwood Sebastian County Fairgrounds, 530 E. Knoxville St.

Voting will be from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8 at 26 voting centers throughout the county. All eligible voters can vote at any of the voting centers.

A financial report filed with the Arkansas Ethic Commission by Citizens for Continued Progress, and signed by Hotz, on July 12 states the group raised $17,500 for promotion of the tax renewal and the election. The filing stated that the group had spent $781 for legal services and $1,275 for marketing and consulting for a total expenditure of $2,144 before July 12.

Fort Smith City Director Lavon Morton said Fort Smith Mayor George McGill and members of the board of directors have met with civic groups, non-profit and other organizations to talk about the county sales tax election and the need for its renewal over the past weeks.

“The revenue from this 1% sales tax is critical to every city and town in Sebastian County as well as the County itself,” Morton said. “We have passed out many signs and coordinated with County Judge Steve Hotz regarding outreach. We have also worked with mayors from other municipalities within Sebastian County.”