Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Amity JOins Smith's Tax Campaign Efforts

Amity is the fourth city in Clark County to join Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith's crusade for equitable distribution of the county sales tax.

Smith met with the Amity City Council Tuesday, June 13, to see if it would pass a resolution supporting a proposal so cities in the county could get their share of the existing one-cent sales tax.

Though many questions were asked about the proposal, the council was unanimous in its support of the idea and passed the resolution.

Smith said the county was in dire financial difficulties 12 years ago when the unemployment rate was in double-digits. The county sought the tax and asked the cities to turn their portion back to the county so it could get on its fiscal feet.

However, he said, the mayors, at the time, were under the impression this would only be a temporary measure and the cities would eventually get their part of the tax monies. This, though, has never happened.

Now, Smith said, the cities in Clark County are in financial difficulty and need their part of the tax.

The city of Arkadelphia challenged the county's right to keep this money a year ago. City leaders placed the tax money, which came from the state, in an escrow account until the matter was solved.

The county sued Arkadelphia successfully and received the funds in the account.

Smith said the county has good leaders in its government, but pointed out most of the people in the county live inside incorporated towns or cities.

When the tax was first passed it brought in about $1 million a year. This allowed the county to become fiscally sound. However, last year the tax brought in some $2 million.

Currently, Smith said, the county has several certificates of deposit worth hundreds of thousands of dollars because the county isn't spending all the money it gets from the tax.

The cities in the county, he said, could use this money to help provide services for their residents.

Gurdon's portion of the sales tax would amount to about $230,000 annually, Smith said.

This would allow the city to put more money into the Gurdon Police Department, give city employees a raise and make sure the streets are in better condition.

It costs about $54,000 per mile to asphalt a road, Smith said.

But, he continued, the cities aren't being greedy and could get by with 60 percent of what they're due under the tax, with the county keeping the rest.

In order to do what Smith is seeking, the people of the county would first have to vote to remove the existing one-cent county-wide sales tax from the books. On the same ballot, the voters would be asked to pass a new tax, replacing the one they just repealed.

The new tax, if passed, would then allow the cities to keep their portion of the revenue it generates.

The Clark County Quorum Court, though, has balked somewhat at agreeing to do this.

Clark County Judge Floyd "Buddy" Manning has said the county needs all of the tax money to operate efficiently and the CDs are for emergencies.

In addition, the court is seeking an attorney general's opinion on the legality of what Smith is trying to do.

Still, Gurdon, Arkadelphia, Caddo Valley and Amity have passed resolutions trying to get their part of the sales tax revenues.