Mayor says sales tax a major issue

The approval of a 1 percent citywide sales tax on Sept. 9 to pay for water and sewer repairs and improvements and street improvements is very important to the city of Trumann.

Repairs to equipment used by Trumann Water Works for pumping water and disposing of sewer waste can be postponed no longer, according to Mayor Sheila Walters.

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has been telling the city these repairs were needed for well over a year. They are running out of patience with the city.

In addition to $210,000 for the replacement of curtains at the city

s sewage lagoon and water treatment plant, Trumann Water Works needs to replace four water pumps at the city

s pumping station (estimated to cost between $40-50,000 each). Repairs also need to be made to the main water well at the wellhouse at an estimated cost of $50,000. The city

s three water tanks need repairs at an estimated cost of $220,000 and the wellhouse on Davis Street needs $25,000 of repairs. In addition, Trumann Water Works needs a $25,000 camera used to look for blockages in city sewer lines

The most critical project is the curtains that need to be replaced in the sewer lagoon..

The Sept. 9 bond issue would provide $870,000 for the city to use in sewer improvements and $572,000 to be used for water improvements. It would also provide $870,000 for street improvements in the city limits. The tax revenue would also provide approximately $400,000 per year in operation and maintenance funds to use in maintaining city buildings, streets and water and sewer equipment

The ADEQ recently fined the city $29,400 for not replacing the sewer curtains in the sewer lagoon and for incorrect testing and incorrect recording of test results. Mayor Walters and City Clerk Marlene Hancock met with ADEQ officials and the fine was reduced to $5,000.

The city of Trumann must replace the sewer curtains within the next few months. If they are not replaced, ADEQ could possibly take over Trumann Waterworks and run it. If ADEQ takes over, it will have the authority to raise water and sewer rates to cover the improvements needed.

Officials at Trumann Water Works have estimated that current Trumann water rates would have to be raised 34% to purchase only the new sewer curtains. A raise of 34% would add approximately $10-12 monthly to a water bill for a family of four.

Our water and sewer department is basically operating at the barebones today,

Walter said.

If this bond issue does not bring us the money we need, we have no way to afford these improvements.

The Trumann water and sewer system was begun in 1951 and much of the system

s equipment has never been replaced.

The 1 percent city-wide sales and use tax has been approved twice in Trumann in recent years. In 1998, Mayor Jack Coggins put together an initiative that gave the city $990,000 in park improvement bonds, $1,035,000 in street improvement bonds, $645,000 in fire station bonds, $320,000 in judicial complex bonds and $365,000 in sewer improvement bonds.

Mayor Ronnie Harrison assembled a bond package in 2005 that gave the city $550,000 in park improvement bonds, $575,000 in fire department improvement bonds, $165,000 in police department improvement bonds, $190,000 in sewer improvement bonds, $535,000 in street improvement bonds and $70,000 in animal control improvement bonds.

Those two bond issues provided the city with the Tru$mann Sports Complex, the new Trumann Fire Station and improvements to the judicial complex in the city. Funds were also used for street improvement, sewer improvements, and improvements to the city

s animal control program.

The 2005 bond issue was originally scheduled to be paid off in 2013. Due to the fact that tax revenues from the bond issue have increased, that bond would have been paid off in 2009.

The new tax, if approved, would expire in 2028.