Sherwood approves tax issue; two-part levy will help pay for road projects, city services

A sales-tax increase to revamp Sherwood roads and revive stagnant revenue was supported by voters in Tuesday's special election.

From a watch party at Joey's Bar & Grill, supporters of the 1 percentage point sales-tax increase anxiously refreshed their phones for election results.

[RUNOFF RESULTS: Click here for full list]

More than one person referred to the contest as "a squeaker."

Sherwood has seen tremendous growth in the past 25 years, with a current population estimate around 30,660. Despite the population growth, infrastructure has lagged, said Karyn Maynard, chairman of the group rallying for the tax increase, Move Sherwood Forward.

The city's sales tax hadn't had a permanent increase since 1993. A temporary one expired in the mid-2000s.

"Our revenue has remained relatively flat. But our needs increased," Mayor Virginia Young said.

Sherwood voters were asked to cast ballots on two tax questions. Since both were approved, consumers will pay a total sales tax of 9.5 percent.

The total tax includes Sherwood's existing 1 percent city sales tax, the state's 6.5 percent tax and a 1 percent Pulaski County tax.

The two tax questions were:

• A one-quarter percent permanent sales tax that is projected to raise $1.25 million annually for the city's general fund used for operations and city services. The general fund supports police, fire safety, city parks and animal services, among other departments.

• A three-quarter percent sales tax to support $38.5 million in bond issues for improved traffic flow throughout the city and relief to major flood zones. This tax would cease to be collected once the bond debt is paid, projected to be in 10-13 years.

Four projects are identified as priorities for the three-quarter percent tax to address: A Maryland Avenue connection and other improvements; a Jacksonville Cato Road improvement; a Brockington Road to Lantrip Road improvement and extension, referred to as the Kohl's Extension; and improvements to Country Club Road.

Unofficial results, with 22 precincts reporting, were:

One-quarter percent sales tax

For 597

Against 556

Three-quarter percent sales tax

For 653

Against 514

The general goal is to ease traffic congestion and dry out constantly flooded neighborhoods, like Creekdale, Maynard said.

In total, there are about a dozen projects on the docket, City Council member Kevin Lilly said. The council's street committee had been debating for several years how to address Sherwood's growing need, Lilly said.

"The more information we got ... the more we realized there was no budget available to do the things we needed to do," Lilly said.

Sherwood's City Council decided to advocate for a sales tax rather than impose mills on real estate and personal property because, according to election literature, those mills would be levied only on Sherwood residents. A sales-tax increase affects anyone who makes purchases within city limits. And, Young said, they wanted to put it to the voters.

For 25 years, "We just have not taxed our people," Young said.

"We've got a lot of work to do, now," Lilly said.




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Metro on 06/20/2018

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