FORT SMITH, Ark. — The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith will not seek an extension of the current ¼-cent county-wide sales tax through a special election in the spring. Sebastian County voters said no to the proposed extension of the sales tax to support UAFS in Nov. 3’s general election.
Unofficial results showed 20,253 (43.57%) for the tax and 26,201 (56.43%) against.
When Westark College joined the University of Arkansas system and set to transition to a four-year institution, the college was no longer eligible to receive millage revenue. Sebastian County voters approved a ¼-cent sales tax to go into effect Jan. 1, 2002, the same day the institution became the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, to help fund the transition and growth of the university. That sales tax sunsets Jan. 1, 2022. Arkansas Act 1087 of 2013 gave UAFS the authority to request a sales-tax extension for 10 years.
“We understood … families were very worried about their incomes. They didn’t know if they would have stability in incomes. Some people had been furloughed or laid off. Others were concerned that could happen to them and were really watching their money closely to the point that every penny counted. Many of us with stability in our employment really needed to take a better look at that and understand that this was not personal about the institution but it really had to do with the uncertainty of the economy (during the COVID-19 pandemic). And honestly we heard loud and clear that being able to stand our own two feet is something that we should be preparing for,” Dr. Terisa Riley, UAFS chancellor, said about the decision not to seek a special election in the spring in a second attempt to get voters to approve the extension.
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