Sherwood will hold a millage election during the Nov. 4 general election to raise funds to build a new library under legislation the City Council approved Monday night.
Sherwood voters will be asked to approve a temporary 1.3-mill property tax. A mill is one-tenth of a cent. A resident owning a $150,000 house would pay an additional $39 on the home's annual property-tax bill if the tax is approved.
Aldermen voted 7-0 to call the election. Alderman Charles Harmon was absent.
Revenue from the tax would go toward repaying $6 million in bonds, which would be used to buy land and to build and equip a 14,000-square-foot library to replace the Amy Sanders Library, 31 Shelby Road.
The Sanders Library, opened in 1989, is the oldest branch within the Central Arkansas Library System and the smallest of the system's branches within Pulaski County.
The library system will pay for the campaign, with no city funds to be used, Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman has said.
The council's action came the same day that the city received an attorney general's opinion stating that the City Council has the authority to schedule either a special election for a library millage or hold the vote during a general election. Petitioners who requested the millage vote had asked for a special election to be set. Rep. Jim Nickels, D-Sherwood, requested the opinion.
At its May 27 meeting, the City Council amended its legislation to move an election on the library to Nov. 4, if aldermen decided to hold such a vote. At the time, the council didn't call for the library election. Some aldermen said then that they wanted the vote to be held during the general election to improve turnout on the issue.
Metro on 06/25/2014