Wrong time, and not a permanent solution

County Judge Darryl Mahoney and the Garland County Quorum Count are proposing a new temporary five-eighths cent sales tax to be voted on Feb. 8 in a special election, i.e., a friends and family, low-turnout election.

Their timing coincides with the “sunsetting” (end) of the then-new temporary five-eighths cent tax passed approximately five years ago to match $30,000,000 in state funds to construct the expressway extension to Hot Springs Village and provide approximately $25,000,000 to be spent on county and municipalities’ streets, road and bridges. This existing five-year fiveeighths cent sales sunsets (ends) in approximately June 2022.

Looking back 10 years ago, the public approved ballot issues to construct the new Garland County Detention Center using a then-new temporary five-eighths cent construction sales tax to sunset (end) in approximately five years along with a new permanent three-eighths cent sales tax to fund jail operations. Near the sunset (end) of the five-eighths cent temporary construction tax, the then-county judge and quorum court proposed a new temporary five-eighths cent sales tax to provide the necessary “matching money” to the state to build the expressway extension. We were told then the tax would sunset (end) once approximately $54,000,000 was raised.

There’s a pattern here. Before either temporary tax ended, they have asked for a new temporary fiveeighths sales tax. I submit our county judges, along with the quorum court, were disingenuous in their proposals about “temporary taxes” or taxes “sunsetting” (ending) since before either sunset, they have asked for another “new temporary five-eighths cent sales tax.”

I predict that if the Feb. 8 ballot measure passes, Garland

County officials will again be asking for another new temporary sales tax, likely five-eighths cent, before it sunsets (ends).

This is not a permanent solution. There’s a serious problem with the proposed new temporary five-eighths cent sales tax. It won’t solve the problems with Garland County roads, streets and bridges. Currently, the county spends $1,800,000 annually for streets, roads and bridges in unincorporated Garland County. A person close to our county judge told me it would take 70 years and $126,000,000 to do the work spending at this rate. The proposed tax will produce approximately $70,000,000 with $42,000,000 going to improve unincorporated Garland County roads, streets and bridges and $26,000,000 going to municipalities, with the city of Hot Springs receiving the largest portion since it is the largest incorporated city. The $42,000,000 plus the $1,800,000 currently budgeted will leave a mammoth unmet need in unincorporated Garland County of approximately $75,000,000 based on their estimates.

It is the wrong time. Garland County citizens have suffered through a pandemic that isn’t over and many haven’t recovered from its impact. There’s also continuing uncertainty as to when the pandemic will end. Another problem is the rampant inflation affecting everyone with higher housing costs, higher utilities cost, motor fuel increases, increased water and sewer rates in our community and much more.

To summarize, it is a bad proposal and it won’t provide a permanent solution. Citizens should defeat this ballot measure. Doing so will send a message to county officials we want a permanent solution and no more temporary taxes that fail to solve the problems our county and municipalities face with our streets, roads and bridges.