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“Mayor Supports Convention Center & Hospital Sales Tax Requests

August 24th, 2015 by iPhone

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 24th, 2015 at 6:45 am and is filed under Site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to ““Mayor Supports Convention Center & Hospital Sales Tax Requests”

Taxpayer says:

August 24, 2015 at 8:42 am

Why don’t we put the full 18 million towards the hospital?? It is a need not a want. An improved and expanded hospital not only increases the level of care we get right here at home with out going to Little Rock, but it is also a major job producing entity. We can do a convention center later, yes it would be nice to have, but improved hospital is a NEED right now.
Taxpayer Mom says:

August 25, 2015 at 8:21 am

I agree with Taxpayer. There is a big question in my mind as to just how much use the average citizen of Drew County would get out of the convention center. I am sure it would be a big boon for UAM and the occasional events that might be held there, but the average taxpayer would drive past it and pay for it without ever being able to use it. The hospital has been growing, improving, and bringing patients from all around Drew County. It provides jobs for many in the area and attracts high quality doctors and nurses for our care. They also provide many tests that we once had to travel to Pine Bluff or Little Rock for. To me, it seems that this would be a better use of our tax dollars in a time when many people are having a very difficult time making ends meet. I doubt very seriously if the sales tax will ever “go away” now that the county is used to receiving that money, so let’s put it to the best possible use and put that money on the hospital.
Leslie McKiever says:

August 25, 2015 at 11:35 pm

Our elected officials need to wean themselves off their addiction to sales tax. Out of seventy-five counties in Arkansas, Drew County, with a 9.00% sales tax is tied for the sixth highest with Calhoun and Mississippi Counties. Only Chicot, Cleveland, Howard, Ouachita, and Scott have higher sales tax than we do. What do all these counties have in common -poverty. Couple that with Monticello’s one cent sales tax and what do we have but high water rates, an antiquated water supply system, a lawsuit and some of the poorest excuse for city streets in the United States. We also do not have an adequate sewer system to support growth. We do have an amphitheater that is used 6 times a year and we do have am empty spec building and a ball field for every child.

I am not considering voting for any sales tax until the ridiculous convention center/UAM basketball field house is dead in the water. It is shameful that something so frivolous is riding the coat tails of an important decision such as a surgical center. I think Jack Lassiter needs to spend his time working on something productive like how students can pay off their student loans before retirement or how one of the finest Science Departments in the State of Arkansas is limited by the confines of space in an aged building. I am so disappointed in the shallowness of this whole effort.
Moving Forward says:

September 21, 2015 at 2:34 pm

Coming from a community that had a center similar (except it also had a pool which it appears has been postponed by the Monticello committee) to the one proposed for Monticello, the center was the hub for activities for all ages and all socio economic backgrounds in the community. It was a shining asset for that community and still is. Meeting rooms were open for community organizations or could be rented for a small fee for private events. There was a fitness center and pool that had a very small fee for area residents. There was pickup games on the basketball courts, volley ball games, scrapbooking, dance classes, quilting, walking track, photography groups, hunter education meeting, various board meetings, any public service informational meetings you can imagine, etc. Oh, and babysitting service while you were on site. The center employed quite a few and kept a lot of the community entertained and informed. Can you tell I miss it?

For those that say the center is a UAM facility, I say you are wrong and it will offer so, so much more. I also say thank you to UAM for agreeing to donate the land and the maintenance for the facility. Most communities do not have such giving university partners to step up and help cover the financial burden for such a project that will be open to the community. I would venture to say that UAM is also one of the leading “employers” in this county given the number of employees on the books at the three campuses, not to mention the financial impact by the students that it brings in.

When a tax is approved for such, the burden in borne by more that just those in the city/county. It is borne by those travelling to our area to shop or those just passing through that stop for gas, lodging, shopping, etc. I was told that Monticello was the “hub” of Southeast Arkansas, but I am not sure that it comes off that way. We need a little something “new” in this town. You can not attract new businesses without some quality of life carrots to go along with the great hospital and good education claims as well. It does not need to be one or the other. Let’s find a way to make headway on both projects. As site location consultants will say, if you are not moving forward, you are moving back. Let’s continue to move forward, together.