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Sewer system improvements in Fort Smith, Arkansas, are primed to move forward following a special election that advanced a $385 million bond issue.
Extensive repairs and upgrades to the city’s sewer system are required under a 2015 federal consent decree between the city and the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality (ADEQ).
The repairs are intended to reduce sanitary sewer overflows into bodies of water that include the Arkansas River.
More than 64% of voters supported two sales and use ordinances on the ballot, while 66% voted in favor of issuing bonds to help fund the work.
The ordinances will allow for a bond issue without increasing the existing sales tax rate, the city said, while extending the date of the levied taxes to 2059.
Voters specifically:
- Reauthorized a 0.75% sales and use tax approved initially in 2022.
- Reauthorized and reallocated a 1% sales and use tax currently used for streets and drainage.
- Authorized the city to issue bonds backed by 0.625% from the renewed 0.75% tax and 0.375% from the reallocated 1% tax, for a combined 1% allocated toward consent decree work.
The city had been making steady progress toward completing federally mandated upgrades to its sewer system, but a flood in 2019 delayed several projects.
The current target completion date is 2027.
The Sebastian County Election Commission is expected to meet on May 23 to certify the election results.
Photo by Balikó András on Unsplash
