Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Court talks food tax

Though no action was taken by the Nevada County Quorum Court, there was discussion concerning a proposed constitutional amendment.

This occurred at the court's regular monthly meeting Monday, Sept. 9.

The proposed amendment, should it get on the November 5 General Election ballot would give citizens of Arkansas the opportunity to vote to eliminate the sales tax on food and medicine in the state.

The justices of the peace talked about the issue and agreed it would be detrimental to the county and state as the food tax generates a great deal of revenue.

Under the proposal, if passed, not only would the tax on food and medicine be eliminated, but the soft drink tax and "hamburger" tax would also be repealed.

The soft drink tax was originally passed to help the state fund Medicare-oriented services for the handicapped, while the "hamburger" tax is a restaurant tax on meals served.

Under the proposed amendment, the definition of food is any item eligible for purchase with federal food stamps as of April 1, 2001, or is otherwise available under any state or federal nutrition assistance program as existing on said date.

If passed, it would go into effect as of July 4, 2003. The amendment has been proposed by the Arkansas Libertarians Eliminating Regressive Taxes.

Overall, the elimination of these taxes would cost the state approximately $700 million a year, and the proposition offers no method of replacing this lost revenue.

Otherwise, the meeting consisted of Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, updating the court on what his office has been doing.

A lot has been going on with the rural water project being one of the most important items, he said.

At this time, it is known where the easements signed are located, but volunteers will be going door-to-door talking to residents about signing their easement agreements so the plans can be completed and the project let for bid.

About 75 residents have been removed from the project by being at the end of a road and not wanting city water.

Entire sections could be removed if easements aren't signed and turned in, or people don't want to be on it.

According to Chadwell, there is only one portion where a resident wanting to be on the project would be removed because of neighbors not signing up for city water.

Some customers were lost to the Blevins water project, he said.

Chadwell said the person in charge of the Blevins project threatened to sue the Nevada County project if these customers weren't released. A suit, he told the court, could delay the start of construction a full year, so it would be more practical not to fight with Blevins.

About 17 customers, he said, will be lost from the Prescott project. These people will be refunded their deposits, and be encouraged to sign on with the Blevins project.

The city, he said, has agreed to take the Nevada County Hospital building if there is a prospect available to take it over and lease the facility.

The city attorney is checking into the legality of transferring the hospital from the county to the city.

Chadwell said he expects to meet with the parties involved and hammer out the details.

After the meeting, he said, the city may go ahead and take control of the hospital, even without a prospect.

The ACE (Arkansas Community of Excellence) committees have been meeting, he said, with their work to, hopefully, be done by October.

Chadwell said the pocket parks downtown are almost done. One will have a small stage and feature entertainment once a month.

A new organization CHICS (Citizens Helping Improve Community Standing) will be putting on a Pumpkin Festival Saturday, Oct. 26. The festival will be downtown, with two tournaments  a USSSA sanctioned baseball tourney and a three-man scramble at the Prescott Country Club.

When asked about a spec building at the industrial park, Chadwell said there won't be one at this time. Instead, a building will be constructed for a company wanting to locate in the park.

The EDO has the funds for the building, he said, and as soon as the architect signs off the plans, construction will start.

There has also been interest expressed by grocery stores about leasing the old Taylor Grocery building. However, Chadwell said, the facility is currently under a long-term lease and won't be available for several years.

Companies, he said, have stated Prescott could support a second grocery story, but it wouldn't be feasible to build a new building.