Sales tax election is town hall focus

Mayor Joe Smith will hold his first scheduled town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the city sales tax election Aug. 8.

The public is invited to the meeting at Lakewood United Methodist Church, 1922 Topf Road. There will be four more town halls on the tax election, each aimed at attracting a broader group of voters than Smith’s previous meetings with neighborhood associations and civic groups.

The election will ask North Little Rock voters to approve a 1 percentage point city sales tax increase that will raise the city tax to 2 percent. If approved, the total tax charged to consumers would then be 9.5 percent in North Little Rock, including the 6.5 percent state tax and 1 percent Pulaski County tax.

The ballot title specifies that revenue from the tax would be split into two parts: One-half percentage point would be a permanent tax for the city’s operations and the other half would last for five years to be used for streets and drainage structures, fire stations and the police and courts building. Tax collection would begin Jan 1.

Early voting will begin Aug. 1 at William F. Laman Public Library, 2801 Orange St.