Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Tax measure passes by 4:1 margin

By an overwhelming 4:1 margin, the 1 3/8 cent sales tax for street improvement in Prescott passed.

The election was held Tuesday, Nov. 18, with all voting done at the Nevada County Courthouse. There were two issues to be voted on, with both passing.

First, voters approved the bond issue 212-51, and passed the tax 211-52. Both issues had to pass in order for the measure to work.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said the margin of vote showed the majority of people in Prescott favored the project.

The street project will see all 30 miles of city streets get a two-inch overlay. Work will be done in different parts of Prescott simultaneously, with the project expected to take about two years to complete.

The way the bond ordinance was written, once the bonds are paid off, the sales tax is removed from the books. However, for election purposes, the life of the tax was set at 10 years, but could be much shorter.

Chadwell said interest rates are low at this time and the bonds could be paid off in as little as seven years  possibly less depending on tax collection in the city.

"The people showed support to make the community a better place," he said. "This is something that communicates not only to local residents what we're trying to do, but we've had several state people comment Prescott is the only town to pass a sales tax this year."

Pine Bluff, Conway and Bryant all tried to pass sales taxes, and all three cities saw the issues fail at the polls earlier this month.

"I think the people are excited about this project," Chadwell said.

The process of selling the bonds will begin immediately, though funds from the sale won't be available until late January, 2004. Chadwell said the reality of the situation is construction won't start until late Spring or early Summer.

There is a lot to do before any overlaying begins. The project must be let for bids and the city has to figure out what it needs to do to get the streets prepared for the overlay.

There has been talk of widening Moore and Martin streets under this project. If this is done, the city will widen the streets and let the contractor do the overlay. But, the most likely scenario for Martin and Moore streets is they won't be touched until school is out.

According to Chadwell, it will be up to the contractor to decide where construction will begin on the project.