A campaign is getting off the ground in Sherwood to promote a two-part city sales tax increase that voters will be asked to approve in a June 19 special election to fund city operations, and street and drainage improvements.
Sherwood City Council members and a few Sherwood Chamber of Commerce board members met for the first time last week to lay the groundwork for the Move Sherwood Forward campaign to inform voters about how the new tax revenue would be used. Another organizational meeting will be Tuesday.
The campaign will be managed by a committee established through the chamber, as recent successful sales tax elections were handled in North Little Rock and Maumelle, and funded entirely through private contributions.
A three-quarters percent tax is sought to support a bond issuance of $38.5 million for improvements to city streets and drainage systems. A separate vote for a one-quarter percent tax would strengthen the city's general fund for operations, which includes public safety and other services provided to the public.
The one-quarter percent tax would be permanent. The other tax would expire once the bond debt is paid, estimated to take seven to 10 years, city officials said.
Town-hall meetings, presentations to civic groups and meetings in each city ward will be used to promote the election, officials said.
"I think the key is going to be letting the citizens know what our plan is and what we will do with these funds," Mayor Virginia Young said the day after the group meeting, which she attended. "We'll do our best to reach out to the people and help them to make a decision that's informed."
No opposition has yet to materialize, Young said, but she added that "there's always going to be people who have feelings" about increasing taxes.
The one-quarter percent sales tax to support the general fund would help with an "immediate need" for road maintenance, according to an information sheet provided to the group that council member Kevin Lilly put together. Sherwood has 160 miles of roadway within the city limits, but available funds limit the city's ability to do overlay work on its streets, it said.
The city also is in need of another fire station because of growth to its north, according to the information sheet. Sherwood has an Insurance Service Office Class 2 rating, with 1 being the highest. In order to maintain that rating, the city needs better spacing among fire stations because of the direction of its growth, Young said.
The three-quarters percent tax to back the issuance of bonds will enable the city to move traffic more efficiently throughout the city, provide more direct access to communities for emergency vehicles and assist in the city's growth, according to the information provided to the group.
The city has flooding issues in neighborhoods off Jacksonville Cato Road, which recently contributed to all Pulaski County Special School District schools having to close for two days when heavy rains flooded roads, Lilly said at the meeting. Cato Elementary and the Sylvan Hills High School Freshman campus are in that area.
Country Club Road, one of the city's oldest streets, also floods toward its west end during heavy rain, affecting traffic and homes in that area. Other major traffic issues are at the crowded intersection of Brockington Road and Kiehl Avenue, and access to U.S. 67/167, according to Lilly's summary of needs.
"This is very much about moving traffic," Lilly said during the meeting. "There is something in this package for everybody."
Lilly told the group that economic development, public safety, moving traffic and quality of life are needs that the tax package would address.
"This is our first and last best crack at this," Lily said of the tax election's importance.
Even though people will vote on the two taxes separately on the ballot, it would be most beneficial to the city if residents considered what can be accomplished through the two issues together, council member Charles Harmon said.
"I don't see it as two separate issues," Harmon said. "I see the whole vote as moving Sherwood forward."
Metro on 04/01/2018