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Eureka Springs council approves ordinances to seek 1% sales tax for bonds, calls special election
Summary
The city council voted to advance three related ordinances (Nos. 2384–2386) to levy a 1% sales and use tax for 20 years to pay bonds for capital improvements and water/sewer projects and to call a special election; council also authorized reading the ordinances by title. Officials said the city’s sales-tax-based bond capacity is roughly $18 million and the ordinance sets a $20 million maximum and a roughly 50/50 split for water and sewer projects.
The Eureka Springs City Council on April 27 approved a package of ordinances (Nos. 2384–2386) that would place a 1% sales and use tax before voters and authorize bonds to finance capital improvements and water and sewer projects.
City finance staff told council the estimate of sales-tax-backed bond capacity is about $18 million and that officials rounded the authorization up to a $20 million maximum to preserve flexibility if sales tax or interest rates change. Staff recommended splitting the bond proceeds roughly 50/50 — about $10 million for general capital projects and $10 million for water/sewer — to comply with statutory allocation language in the bond ordinance.
"We worked with Cheryl Schuterman from Raymond James on the amount of the bonds that we would be able to issue based upon our sales tax at the end of March," the city’s finance representative said. "That would be around $18 million. A little over $18 million, so she rounded that to a maximum of $20 million." (City finance staff comments during discussion.)
Council suspended the rules to read ordinance 2384 by title and then approved it on second reading by roll-call. The council subsequently read and approved ordinance 2385 (calling a special election on the 1% levy) and ordinance 2386 (authorizing bonds under Amendment 62) on second readings.
Votes and next steps The ordinances were advanced on second reading by roll-call votes recorded in the meeting. Staff said the documents will be published on the city website before the third reading so the public may review the ordinance text ahead of the next meeting. The council indicated the third reading will occur at the next regular meeting, at which point final publication and ballot-timing steps will be confirmed.
Why it matters City officials said proceeds would fund water, sewer and other capital priorities identified by public works staff. Council members asked staff to ensure clear public materials and scheduling so residents can review the ordinances and the list of proposed projects before a final vote.
