Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Council Passes Resolution On County's Sales Tax

A resolution was passed by the Gurdon City Council concerning the one cent sales tax in Clark County.

As Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith told the council, at the regular monthly meeting Monday, April 10, this is not a new issue.

Smith has made requests to meet with each city council in Clark County concerning the tax and its distribution, or lack thereof. He will meet with Arkadelphia's council Thursday, April 20, on the matter.

"I feel strongly about this," he said. "We have a god county and good people. The people of Gurdon have always voted to help themselves to the point we're maxed out on sales tax."

Smith is protesting the county getting to keep all of the sales tax, which was passed in 1988. At the time the county was about to go broke and all cities and towns agreed to give their share of this tax to the county.

However, Smith points out, the county is no longer in a financial crisis and the cities within the county could use a portion of the tax for their residents.

According to population breakdown, only 36 percent of the people in Clark County live in rural areas. The other 64 percent live within the confines of an incorporated city.

Smith said it takes all people working together to make the county successful and this has been done, as the county has done well.

Now, he said, it's time for the county to show good faith in the cities and turn loose of some of this tax money.

In 1988 the tax brought in about $1 million. Last year this figure had risen to $2.2 million.

"I don't want to make a political issue out of this," Smith told the council, "but I will if I have to."

He said those working in county government are not to blame as they are only playing the hand they were dealt. However, he continued, if other councils in Clark County pass this resolution and send a copy to the Clark County Quorum Court, it would be hard to be ignored.

"At least they need to sit down and talk with us," he said.

The resolution recognizes the cities came to the aid of the county as evidenced by county ordinance 299 of 1988 to alleviate the county's fiscal problems.

It further states the City of Gurdon is now in a situation similar to the one the county was in back in 1988 and is needs additional revenue to provide services to its people.

The resolution states Gurdon represents 10.5425 percent of the people of Clark County and would be able to provide better services for its people if it were to receive its per capita share or a fair share of the tax.

The idea is to get this measure placed on the November General Election ballot and let the people of the county decide.

The council also discussed the problem of nuisance structures in the city.

Ordinances 323 and 324 of 1983 deal with this issue and give the city the authority to condemn and remove such structures.

Smith said there are 40 or more in town needing to be condemned. However, he pointed out, the city needs to make a list of which need to be dealt with first and not try and do all of them at once.

He suggested forming a committee and making it open to the public on the topic.

Ordinance 324 gives the city the authority to deal with homeowners who don't keep their property clean and clear of debris.

"The city needs to inspect each location and see if the structures are sound," he said, "then use the appropriate ordinance. Several of these places present public and health hazards."

Harold Hurst, manager of the Gurdon Water and Sewer Department, pointed out there are also structures built over sewer lines which will cause a problem in the future.

Smith has been in touch with an architect concerning more improvements to City Hall.

The city has money from the state through a bill sponsored by State Rep. Percy Malone to do the work.

The idea, Smith said, is to add a drive-through window for the water and sewer department, pave the parking lot and build two new bays for the Gurdon Fire Department

The parking lot, he said, would also be lighted.

Hurst, talking about the water department, said the Greenville project is now done and has been closed out. Nineteen new customers were added with this water project, which is the last of the city's water projects.

The department added 387 new customers with the rural water and the Greenville projects. When the projects first started in 1991, the goal was to add 409 customers.

Two letters of resignation were accepted from firemen with the Gurdon Fire Department. Jason Burns and Eddie Reese both tendered letters of resignation, citing work as the reason for leaving the GFD.

The city will try and replace both men.

Allen Wright was hired to work full-time with the street department. Wright had been a part-time employee who applied for the full-time job when it opened.

However, there remains one more opening with the street department, and the person who gets it must either have a CDL or be able to get one.