Sharp County voters weigh tax increase

ASH FLAT — Voters will go to the polls Tuesday in Sharp County on a proposed sales-tax increase that would pay for a new hospital.

If approved, the 1.5 percent increase would pay for the construction and operations of a new, county-owned hospital. The measure is backed by the Sharp County Hospital Foundation, which says the county needs a locally owned hospital with an emergency room.

Backers of the plan say the tax would generate $2.6 million annually and create about 110 jobs at the hospital.

But Sharp County Judge Larry Brown told the Batesville Daily Guard that he opposes the tax proposal, saying the county doesn't need to be in the hospital business. He noted that White River Health System plans to open an emergency room in Cherokee Village.

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