FORT SMITH — Voters rejected Tuesday a proposal to levy a temporary 1 percent sales tax to pay for completion of the U.S. Marshals Service’s national museum on the banks of the Arkansas River.
Complete but unofficial results were:
For 3,670
Against 6,726
“We are disappointed that tonight’s outcome was not favorable,” U.S. Marshals Museum Foundation President Jim Dunn said in a prepared statement. “We are heartened by the many expressions of support by even those who opposed our effort. We have overcome many obstacles to get this far and we ask that all the citizens of Fort Smith unite and help complete the museum as soon as possible.”
Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen, a leader among opponents of the tax, also said Fort Smith residents should unite to help complete the museum.
“I think the people of Fort Smith have sent a loud and clear message that we need to focus on our priorities,” he said. “We support the museum, but we do not support it being paid for with public funds.”
Museum officials have said if the sales tax failed they would continue raising the $15.3 million needed to design and build the exhibit experience in the museum along with the start-up cost and working capital. The museum raised about $35 million in donations and in-kind donations over nearly 10 years.
Construction is underway on the $19.1 million, 50,000-square-foot museum building.
City directors set Tuesday’s election by ordinance in December when museum officials requested that directors ask voters to pass a non-renewable 1 percent sales tax for nine months that would raise $15.5 million to $16 million. They asked for the tax because a large donation last summer that was a matching challenge had fallen through.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.