Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Tax Loss Would Hurt City

Gurdon receives 5 mill in property tax. This money is placed in the city's general fund.

This 5 mill is used for city services, including funding the Gurdon Police Department. This millage amounts to about $40,000 annually.

The Gurdon Firemen's Pension Fund gets 0.4 mill, or about $3,200, from property taxes.

Should proposition 4 pass, the proposed amendment to repeal property taxes in Arkansas, Gurdon would be "hurt bad" according to Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith.

Smith said the city has had shortages for several years, with the police department having to operate under a tight budget. "This is one reason we asked for the half-cent sales tax last November," he said. This tax is to be used to help the GPD, get emergency warning sirens installed and maintained, and operate an animal control department.

The loss of the property tax, Smith said, would amount to the city losing two police officers and the GPD being forced to tighten its belt even more.

In addition, with the General Assembly scheduled to address removing sales tax from food items, the loss of both would devastate Gurdon.

"It sounds good on the front end," Smith said of getting rid of both taxes, "and it appeals to voters. We shouldn't tax food and medicine, but in a town the size of Gurdon, the majority of sales tax comes from food."

The loss of tax money from property and food, Smith said, would pretty much eliminate all revenue for the city, and shut down the city's government and services.

Currently, the city has a tax to help fund the street department. Under proposition 4, the people would be voting on this tax every two years.

Property tax, Smith said, is fair because those who can afford the most property can afford to pay the taxes. Sales taxes, though, affect those who can afford them least in many cases.

These taxes, he said, are used to pay for all basic services cities provide, including street repair and maintenance, fire protection, police protection and the funding of city government.

"We've got a lot of good things going on in Gurdon now," Smith said. "We're on our feet financially and have been able to do more street work than in the past decade. We're doing a better job at maintaining our roads.

"But," he continued, "there's no surplus of money. With good planning and management, we're getting work done and I would hate to see it stop."

If both taxes (food and property) are lost, he said, there may be no way for Gurdon to continue operating as there would be no money. "We could lose all revenue but state turnback money. It would be devastating."

Such a loss could see the GPD reduced to a couple of officers and a dispatcher, but no 24- hour service. The officers would be dispatched on a call-by-call basis.

Clark County would also be affected by the loss of tax money and the Clark County Sheriff's Office may not be able to respond and take up the slack for the GPD if proposition 4 passes.

"People's votes are influenced by their personal circumstances," Smith said, "their likes and dislikes."

Instead of doing away with property tax, Smith said, the state could better afford getting rid of the state income tax.

Currently, he said, the state is losing $800 million through catalog and Internet sales, along with telephone orders. The Arkansas Municipal League is proposing taxing these sales.

By doing this, Smith said, it would generate enough money so the state could easily afford to eliminate the income tax.

"If we lose the property tax, the way the state budget is set up the state would have to tighten its belt. We would lose a lot of services and grant money. Everything would have to be prioritized. The overall picture," Smith said of the loss of property tax, "is bleak and ugly.

"I question (Oscar) Stilley's ethics. I wonder who encouraged him to do this." Stilley is the Fort Smith attorney who proposed proposition 4 for the November General Election.

The way the proposed amendment is written, Smith said, it provides escapes for people in arrears on their property tax and encourages people to break the law by not paying this year's taxes.

According to the measure, those owning back property tax would be forgiven if the amendment is adopted, while also abolishing the offices of tax assessor and collector, wiping out those jobs.

Gurdon Superintendent Bobby Smithson said the Gurdon School District would lose $847,044 if the issue passes.

"We couldn't stay in business. It would wipe us out," he said.

According to Smithson, the Arkansas School Board Association (ASBA) predicts Arkadelphia's districts would lose $2.7 million.

The Gurdon School Board will be presented a model resolution at its September meeting, Tuesday Sept. 15, opposing the removal of property tax.

For the school district, the loss of property tax would be doubly tough as it is seeking a 3 mill increase in property tax to fund renovations at Gurdon Primary School, build a new football stadium, track, field house and physical education facility at the Highway 67 site.