SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse used his State of the City address Tuesday night to talk about a special bond election coming up, and where revenue from those bonds will be spent.
"This a bond issue like our past ones— it has no increase on taxes but it will enable us to restructure our bonds, free up about $4 million in our general fund, and then depending on what the bonds sell for create between $130 - $150 million in new projects. Those projects will be divided into four different categories," said Mayor Doug Sprouse.
Those categories include funding for a new senior center, parks and recreation facilities, a new fire station, and transportation improvements.
"When you're growing like we are, that's usually where you're going to be putting most of your money: roads, sidewalks, trails... existing infrastructure," Sprouse explained.
The Mayor says he believes the bonds will generate between $130 and $150 million dollars.
"And we're keeping the same 2% sales tax we've had for years. I think that most cities up here, especially the larger cities, all have a 2% sales tax, and 1% of that is dedicated to these types of capital projects," Sprouse recalled.
The City of Springdale is fulfilling an unmet need for public safety.
"For fire Station 10, having an additional fire station is something we've identified, and have been sitting out there for several years waiting for its time to come as we've grown over the last few years and added several stations— this is the next piece of the puzzle," Assistant Fire Chief Jim Vaughn said,
Vaughn says the fire department's promise to residents is to respond to emergencies within four minutes. He says that will happen with the new fire station.
"The northern areas of the city are underserved a little bit, so adding fire station number 10 up into that area would minimize the response times in that part of the city."
The special election is set for May 9.
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