Greenwood officials and candidate urge voters to renew 10-year sales tax to fund parks, streets and fire services

Adam Watson, a candidate for state office, and Greenwood officials urged residents at a public meeting to support a sales-tax renewal they said is critical to funding parks, streets and fire services. Proponents said the measure is a renewal with a 10-year sunset and is split three ways among those departments.

Why it matters: Supporters said the current sales-tax revenues provide roughly $500,000 per year to each of the parks, streets and fire departments and are used for capital projects, routine operations and grant matching. Without the renewal, speakers warned, the city could face cuts or need to redirect funds from other services.

At the meeting Adam Watson introduced himself as a candidate for the state seat that covers Sebastian County and Greenwood and said the renewal is “very important” to the city’s functioning. Casey Craig, Greenwood’s parks director, described projects built or planned with sales-tax proceeds, including trail and accessibility work, playground development supported by a state grant, bathroom facilities and a proposed dog park and disc-golf maintenance.

Officials cited specific grant and match examples. The transcript records a $494,000 state grant for playground work and a city contribution figure of $275,000 toward that project. City staff also described a resurfacing project paid partly with a grant in which the city’s local match was about $25,000 on a roughly $250,000 contract, and said they had partnered with the county on another resurfacing job.

Speakers also identified infrastructure needs such as drainage fixes and two city-owned bridges that require inspection and repair; the city said AROT inspects bridges and issues condition reports. Fire and public-safety investments were discussed: participants said station number two and other apparatus were funded from sales-tax reserves and that future truck and station replacements are planned.

Supporters emphasized that the sales-tax funds help the city compete for outside grants. Staff explained that most grants require seed or matching funds and that local revenue helps secure state funding for sidewalks, trails and other projects. City staff also noted an administrative reason for the meeting’s timing: under current state scheduling rules, special elections called by cities and counties must occur on primary or general-election dates, which affected when the renewal could be placed before voters.

Organizers encouraged residents to register interest on the city website and to spread the word ahead of the election. The meeting included no formal council vote on the renewal; the session concluded after public remarks and questions.