City council approved third readings of two ordinances that will place a one percent retail tax on the ballot for Eureka Springs voters in November. City Attorney Tim Weaver said a Municipal League attorney found no problems with the ordinances.
When alderman James DeVito moved to invoke the emergency clause of Ordinance 2244, alderman Bob Thomas asked would there have been an emergency if council had acted earlier? He saw the situation as a council-created emergency.
City Attorney Tim Weaver pointed out there was a timeliness connected to the ordinance because even if the tax makes it on the November ballot and is approved by the voters, it would probably would not take effect until mid-2017 and the city would not see any new revenue for another few months.
Alderman Terry McClung took offense to Thomas’s implication that council had dawdled unnecessarily in considering the ordinance, stating, “We did not dilly-dally, sir.”
When DeVito moved to invoke the emergency clause of Ordinance 2245, Thomas apologized to the citizenry at large for not realizing the time constraints connected with the ordinance and thereby participating in creating an emergency. Alderman David Mitchell only wanted to make sure Mayor Butch Berry’s office had a plan for communicating accurate information to the public. Regarding possible negative scuttlebutt, he commented, “We definitely don’t want this to be warped into something it is not.”
Votes to invoke each emergency clause were unanimous.
During Public Comments, former alderman Karen Lindblad stated citizens must live within their means, and the city government should also. She contended taxes are already too high, and, as a result visitors will choose not to make purchases. She maintained even locals are cutting back on shopping and eating out, and urged the city to tighten its belt and find other ways to meet its budgetary requirements. “Tourism is the goose that lays the golden egg, and taxes will kill it,” she finished.
Next meeting will be Monday, August 22, at 6 p.m. There will be a budget workshop at 5:30 preceding the meeting.