Blytheville aldermen have set a May 9 special election on a half-percent sales tax to raise salaries for police and firefighters and for the construction of a justice complex.
If approved by voters, the citywide tax will collect about $1.4 million a year before ending in 10 years, Blytheville Mayor James Sanders said Wednesday.
Blytheville's sales tax rate is currently 10 percent, with 1 percentage point going to the city, 2.5 percentage points going to Mississippi County and 6.5 percentage points going to the state.
"We're trying to make salaries competitive with other cities to keep our officers and firefighters here," Sanders said. "Longevity is something we need. We don't need to keep recycling new officers who come in and then leave for better-paying jobs."
Blytheville's patrol officers are paid a starting salary of $29,000 to $30,000, Police Chief Ross Thompson said. That's competitive with other area cities, but officers receive minimal pay raises while rising up the ranks, the chief said.
"We were seeing patrol officers leave after 2½ years," Thompson said. "Now we're starting to see those who stayed here longer leaving, too. They find they can go down the road and get more competitive pay."
The Mississippi County town of 15,120 has budgeted for 39 police officers on the Blytheville Police Department. Currently, the department has 33 officers, Thompson said.
The Blytheville Fire Department and its 30 firefighters have the same concerns, Fire Chief Mike Carney said.
"We want to see a trend in retaining and recruiting personnel," he said. "People leave for other cities for more pay and less workload. They come here, beef up their resumes and then move on. We're trying to counter that."
Tax revenue also would fund construction of a new police station and district court building on South Division Street, Sanders said.
The Police Department is housed in a 90-year-old building, across from the Mississippi County Courthouse that once served as the City Hall and community center. Crews installed 12 jail cells in the building in the 1980s, but officials were forced to close them because of poor conditions, Thompson said.
"This is a main component in fighting crime," the police chief said. "We've never had a place of our own."
The election will come two months after county voters decide on a half-percent sales tax proposed to fund construction of a new county courthouse that would replace two others. County officials asked for the March 14 special election, saying the century-old courthouses in Osceola and Blytheville are in dire need of repairs.
The Blytheville School Board is also planning to ask residents to approve a millage increase for teacher raises.
State Desk on 02/23/2017