Washington, Benton County special elections include land annexation, sales tax, fire district elections

Some voters in Northwest Arkansas head to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of a proposed annexation in Cave Springs, a new sales tax in Johnson and the option to pay fire dues when property taxes are collected in the Boston Mountain and Sunset fire districts.

Early voting began July 6 and continues 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m Monday at the Benton and Washington County clerks' offices, election officials said.

Cave Springs

Cave Springs voters and those in the affected, unincorporated area will decide whether to annex about 2,800 acres to the west of the city. The annexation, which includes the unincorporated part of Arkansas 265 between Cave Springs and Highfill, would increase the city's size by more than 55%, from 5,043 acres to 7,842 acres, if approved, Mayor Randall Noblett said.

Cave Springs is on a sewer system that will be nearing capacity in the next two to three years, he said. The city plans to build a traditional sewer system that connects to the Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority in Bentonville. The authority runs a regional wastewater treatment plant.

The annexation would improve police and fire protection and streets and maintenance planning to the greater community, Noblett has said. It would also help secure lower water rates for people in the city as well as people in the area coming into the city, he said.

"We recently had a 61% increase in our wholesale water rate for Cave Springs, and in the past that would have meant an increase in water rates to the customers," Noblett said.

"Because of our current growth and because of our restructuring of some of the cost mechanisms in our billing, we were actually able to absorb that increase without having to increase rates to the customers."

Fire districts

Some Washington County voters will decide whether the Boston Mountain and Sunset fire districts may ask residents to pay fire dues with annual personal property tax bills.

The tax is listed as voluntary. A property owner is covered in the event of a fire if they pay the $50 annual due. The property owner will otherwise be billed for the response if a fire occurs.

Washington County Collector Angela Wood said 11 out of 16 fire districts in the county currently collect fire dues with personal property tax bills.

Sunset Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Shepherd said the change would help increase the department's revenue.

The Boston Mountain Fire District has 727 residential structures and 15 commercial structures, according to information from the Washington County Assessor's Office. The Sunset Fire District has 181 residential structures and no commercial structures, Assessor Russell Hill previously said.

Johnson

Johnson residents will decide whether to OK a temporary 1% sales tax to back a $7.3 million street bond issue, according to the city's website.

The sales tax would raise the city's tax rate from 2% to 3% until the debt is repaid, which is estimated to occur around 2046, according to the website. The city plans to use the revenue from the bond sales to make curb, gutter and drain improvements and for utility adjustments and sidewalks.

Johnson Mayor Chris Keeney said the bond revenue would be used to construct phase A of the Main/Wilkerson street project.

"It's a complete infrastructure project, and it's just the first phase of a much larger project that addresses those through the older part of the city where there never was any of that type of infrastructure," Keeney said.

Johnson residents will also vote on a separate 1% sales tax on prepared food and lodging to fund city park improvements.