Bella Vistans To Vote On Sales Tax

First $750,000 Would Pay Salaries For Police, Fire

By Tabatha Hunter

Posted: November 28, 2009 at 4:34 a.m.

David Frank Dempsey
Ernie Hudgens tapes the dates for early voting to a window Friday in the Sugar Creek Center in Bella Vista. The voting will determine adoption of a sales tax for the city.

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BELLA VISTA — Bella Vista residents will vote Dec. 8 on a proposed 1 percent city sales tax.

If approved, the first $750,000 collected from the tax each year would be used to pay for more staff for the police and fire departments, said Mayor Frank Anderson. Anderson said he could not provide an estimate for how much the tax might raise annually.

The Bella Vista City Council formed a committee of residents and the fire and police chiefs to examine the public safety departments. The committee decided both departments were understaffed, Anderson said.

The committee said the Police Department needs 10 more offices and four more support staff positions. The Fire Department needs nine firefighters and three additional staff positions, Anderson said.

“We have had some pretty fantastic growth out here, and you can’t add that without adding additional (staff),” Anderson said.

Paramedics, firefighters and police officers responded to 1,000 calls in 2005. There have been more than 2,000 calls in 2009, Anderson said.

“The need is not going away and it is not necessarily going to wait for the best time for us to do something about it,” he said.

The sales tax would be Bella Vista’s first since incorporation. Some residents on Friday said they would be willing to vote for the tax.

“There are several things that the city, a new city, needs in terms of financial support so I am glad to help them raise it if I can,” said Bob Woods of Bella Vista. “Safety and security in the village is very important.”

Woods’ wife, Jan, said she had not decided whether to support the tax.

Robert Ness of Bella Vista also supports the tax, provided the money goes to the fire and police departments and not into the city’s golf courses.

Adding policemen and firefighters is a valuable thing to do, Ness said.

The Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce also supports the tax.

The tax has become not just a discussion point, but a matter of public safety, said Ed Clifford, president and CEO of the chamber.

Bella Vista has seven police and firefighters per 1,000 residents. The national average is 10, Clifford said.

“Given the expanse of area that Bella Vista has, that probably presents response time problems,” he said.

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