Voters approve sales tax

Eureka Springs voters approved a 1 percent sales and use tax and two bond measures in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election to finance improvements to the city’s aging water and sewer systems.

According to unofficial results, the sales tax passed with 586 votes (60.60 percent), compared with 381 votes (39.40 percent) against.

The water improvement bonds passed with 726 votes (75.47 percent), compared with 236 votes (24.53 percent) against. The sewer improvement bonds passed with 740 votes (76.76 percent), compared with 224 votes (23.24 percent) against.

The votes authorize up to $10 million each in water and sewer improvement bonds. Revenue from the tax will repay the bonds.

“We are very happy and excited to see the bond issue pass,” Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry said Wednesday, Nov. 4. “This will allow the city to start work on our infrastructure.”

Tax revenue remaining after bond payments will support operation, maintenance and improvements to the city’s water and sewer systems, city officials have said.

“I think the sales tax is needed, and I think most people in town realize it’s needed,” said city council member and mayor-elect Steve Holifield.

Holifield is now mayor-elect after Berry opted out of a runoff in the mayoral race.

“Our citizens are very rational and logical about what’s going on here,” Holifield said. “I don’t think people thought it was another sales tax, another tax, a collection of money, to roll in on this or that. They know it was a very needed thing to happen to address our very ancient infrastructure.

“I look forward to making sure that happens and most efficiently as possible, and part of that is keeping people up-to-date on how that money is going to be spent, why it’s spent, what the progress is, how it’s gonna make a difference.”

Holifield credited Berry and other city officials for educating the public about the infrastructure problems and the need for the tax.

“I think anytime you ask the citizens, especially in Eureka Springs with our tax rate — it’s pretty high here already — it’s a gamble to think: Are they gonna go for it? Are they gonna say taxes are already too high and ‘I’m just not gonna vote for it, I don’t care what it’s for?’

“I think that’s happened in the past. But again, I think the mayor has done a good job, and other people have done a good job on trying to include the (Eureka Spring Chamber of Commerce) and trying to educate the population on how this is necessary and why it’s necessary, and to please vote for it, and it worked. It’s been a very successful campaign.”

City officials said a sales tax would allow tourists to help pay for infrastructure improvements, easing the burden on residents. Officials also have said approval of the tax would eliminate the current infrastructure and improvement fee on water customers’ bills.

“These issues are about investing in Eureka Springs and the water and sewer infrastructure without placing a burden on the residents and the businesses,” Berry said at a Sept. 24 public forum.

Berry said the city’s infrastructure needs reflect the demands of its visitors as well as its residents.

“As most of you know, we’re not like a normal town of 2,000 people,” he said. “We’re not like Alpena. If we were Alpena, we wouldn’t be needing as large of a sewer plant that we have, and we wouldn’t need the water and sewer infrastructure that we require. But, because we have somewhere between a million and a million-and-a-half visitors who come into town every year, that places a burden on our infrastructure, who also uses the majority of our water and sewer.”