City sets meetings on sales-tax vote

Sherwood has set two public meetings for this week to discuss its June 19 sales-tax special election.

The meetings will be 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday at Sylvan Hills First Baptist Church, 9008 Arkansas 107 in Sherwood, the Move Sherwood Forward committee announced.

Mayor Virginia Young and Sherwood City Council members are to discuss the initiatives that will be on the ballot and answer residents’ questions.

In the election, Sherwood voters will be asked whether to approve a two-part sales-tax increase. Early voting begins next Tuesday.

A three-quarters percent tax is sought to support a $38.5 million bond issue for street and drainage improvements. The tax would expire once the bond debt is paid in seven to 10 years, according to estimates by city officials.

Four projects the bond issue could pay for have been identified by the city’s street committee and will be discussed at the informational meetings.

A separate, one-quarter percent tax would be a permanent tax, if approved. This tax revenue would be for the city’s general fund for operations, which includes public safety and services to the public. Among the projects the tax could fund are an additional fire station, library renovation and road maintenance, according to election materials.

The last permanent sales-tax increase in Sherwood was the city’s current 1 percent tax, approved in 1993.