The Jonesboro City Council voted Tuesday night to ask voters to approve a temporary 1% sales tax in a special election.
Half of the revenue from the proposed temporary tax would go to the Police and Fire departments for capital improvement projects, equipment and other needs. The other half would go toward public amenities, including the library, the arts and parks. The temporary tax would expire in 12 years.
The special election is scheduled for Sept. 10. The city's current sales tax is 8.5%.
A group called Team Jonesboro supports the tax and issued a news release Tuesday night praising the decision to call the special election.
Some opposition has surfaced from individuals.
Iris Stevens of Jonesboro, coordinator of the Northeast Arkansas Tea Party, questioned the process leading up to Tuesday night's City Council vote, and on behalf of her organization she expressed concern about how higher taxes would affect the poor.
"The Tea Party has always had, as its concern, the effect of taxes and laws/regulations on those least able to cope with them," she wrote in an email included in the City Council's agenda packet.
Metro on 07/03/2019