By the time this writing appears, Rogers officials should know whether the people of that fair city have agreed to tax themselves for an additional decade or two to pay for projects they want now.
The city, if voters were in the mood Tuesday, will continue a 1-cent sales tax for years to come. The ballot measure drew the usual (pointless) question of whether the tax is a new tax or just an extension of an old one. The bottom line is it takes money for cities to build capital projects or buy equipment. If needs are big, bond issues are the traditional mechanism of financing.
What’s the point?
Voters should pay attention in the coming months as more requests for new or extended taxes are put before voters in Benton and Washington counties.
Rogers is the latest community to take advantage of strong economic times to seek longer-term commitments from their voters to fund larger-scale project. Last February, Springdale voters approved a $224.6 million bond issue for capital projects, funded by extension of a 1 cent sales tax.
The two cities aren't alone in efforts to bolster the municipal bottom line. More tax proposals are on their way.
After years of discussion, the Benton County Quorum Court hopes voters in March will approve a countywide one-eighth cent sales tax to pay for construction of a new courts building in downtown Bentonville. It will allow for consolidation of most courts and their support systems into a single building.
At Thursday's meeting of the Washington County Quorum Court, a group of advocates for open, natural spaces will try to convince justices of the peace to put a one-eighth cent sales tax on the ballot to support a $65 million land acquisition program. Benton County's Quorum Court has already rejected the plan.
If we were to bet today, we suspect the proposal faces a similar fate in Washington County. Why? One reason is the county will soon want to expand its jail. Sheriff Tim Helder says crowding at the jail needs to be relieved and recommends adding a pod onto the jail in south Fayetteville. The plan is to eventually ask voters for a half-cent sales tax increase that would remain in effect for three years to pay for construction. Then, a quarter-cent would disappear, but the remainder would stay on the books forever to help pay operational costs at the jail.
Then there's Fayetteville, which is building up a collection of proposals for capital projects that will, in 2019, make their way onto the ballot for a sales tax extension.
In short, there are a lot of tax proposals floating around. The county proposals will overlap with any taxes collected by cities. With all the informational campaigns and deliberations going on, it can seem like a lot.
Sales taxes have in recent decades become the funding avenue of choice for local government. It seems people are more than willing to have have hundreds of dollars taken as long as it's done a penny at a time. Sales taxes also allow visitors to chip in as they make purchases. Other options, such as property taxes, aren't nearly as popular, even though they're often considered less regressive than sales taxes.
Municipal and county governments are no different than anything else, in that you do get what you pay for. Sometimes not as much as we'd like, but services and buildings to meet the needs of the public rarely just happen. It takes money.
In the weeks and months to come, voters in both counties need to keep their ears out for information because the requests are coming. It will be up to them to decide whether the needs are great enough for them to open up their wallets a little more or a little longer.
Commentary on 08/15/2018