JONESBORO -- Voters in Jonesboro turned down two sales tax issues that would have funded several road improvement projects and created an economic development recruitment committee while residents in the neighboring town of Brookland supported a tax that will help pay for water system repairs during special elections Tuesday.
In Jonesboro, officials proposed a 0.875 percent sales tax that would pay for 20 road projects, including several overpasses of railroad crossings at the city's municipal airport and on the western side of town. A second measure called for collection of a 0.125 percent citywide sales tax that would have created the Economic Development Corporation of Jonesboro that would create new industrial opportunities and secure funding.
Complete, but unofficial, results for the Jonesboro elections are:
0.875 percent sales tax for road improvements
For 2,708
Against 3,966
0.125 percent sales tax for creating an economic development committee
For 2,525
Against 4,141
"Obviously, this didn't turn out like we hoped," a disappointed Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin said Tuesday evening. "We're just going to have to figure out what to do.
"Jonesboro is a resilient town. Even if we didn't agree, we'll work together, and in 2016 we'll look at what we can do with what funds we have."
Perrin said he will take a few days to assess the loss and determine if voters turned it down because there were too many projects presented at once. "We will do what we can for the city," he said. "We'll take a few days to see what happened and then move forward."
In Brookland, a town of 3,150 about 8 miles north of Jonesboro, work will soon begin on a new 450,000-gallon water tank, a new well and waterlines. The project will cost about $4 million, Mayor Kenneth Jones said.
Complete, but unofficial, results are:
2 percent sales tax for water system repairs
For 146
Against 37
"This shows that our residents care about their city and realize the potential we have to attract new businesses and big development," Jones said.
Jones said he will meet with engineers today and begin developing construction plans. He said he hopes work will begin in April and conclude in November 2016.
The tax will be collected for about 13 to 15 years, when the projects are expected to be paid for, the mayor said.
State Desk on 11/11/2015