Early voting for residents of Bull Shoals begins at 8:00 Tuesday morning at the Marion County Courthouse to vote on a one percent sales tax hike to help fund a new wastewater treatment plant.Voting continues through this week during normal courthouse hours which are 8:00 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon. Polls will reopen Monday at the same time and close again at 4:30. Tuesday voters will go to polls at the Bull Shoals Community Center which will be open from 7:30 in the morning until 7:30 Tuesday evening
Voters in November of last year approved the tax hike to help fund the plant however, the USA grant/loan funding agency required different language from the original ballot.
The city’s sales and use tax will rise from 8.75 percent to 9.75 percent. According to ballot language, the one percent sales tax hike will end once the debt for financing the new plant is retired.
The city was approved for a $4 million grant and a $5 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the slightly more than $9.5 million facility.
The current wastewater treatment facility dates back to the 1970’s and has significant problems. Bull Shoals city officials have been quoted as saying the new wastewater treatment plant will serve the city well into the future.
The City of Bull Shoals has received a $500,000 grant from the Delta Regional Authority to be used toward replacing the city’s wastewater plant and updating the system. The grant from the Delta Regional Authority is part of a total $26 million investment to strengthen the infrastructure, workforce and economy in 15 Arkansas communities. The funds are from the authority’s main federal funding program that invests in public projects in the 252 counties and parishes of the eight state Delta region.
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