YES, I AM STILL HERE peeking out my window on Main Street, and I can’t wait any longer to remind you about regular voting, early voting, and to ask you to join me in voting FOR the continuation of the penny sales tax which will be on every ballot in Howard County, along with school board races.
It is extremely important that we pass this issue.
This is how it would work:
The income from the sales tax would be divided equally among all of the people living between Athens to Saratoga.
It’s “Per Capita.” For every dollar Dierks gets for John Dierks Doe, the city of Nashville gets the exact same for John Nashville Doe.
And the county would get the exact same amount for persons living outside the city limits. So, same amount of dollars for John Center Point Doe.
And that penny sales tax would generate a nice sum.
Fer instance, the existing penny sales tax has generated an AVERAGE of about $2.7 million for 2023 and 2024. Collections are down a bit so far in 2025, but lets pretend that $2.7 million would be divided annually.
What could the Dierks City Council do for the citizens of Dierks?
What could the Mineral Spring City Council do for the citizens of Mineral Springs?
What could the Nashville City Council do for the citizens of Nashville?
What could the Tollette City Council do for the citizens of Tollette.
What could Howard County do? Roads, Law Enforcement, Litter, Animal Control? Those are all topics mentioned already by the county judge.
Would it help Developing Howard County to have an income to use for industrial recruitment and economic development?
Would the hospital be able to use a share to maintain its great level of care for the community?
Let’s do one more example. The judge’s office doesn’t yet know the exact per capita figures, but let’s suppose that 40% of the county population lives OUTSIDE of the four incorporated cities.
How much would be generated for the county if the sales tax income was $2,700,000? The county would then get $1,080,000 per year. Imagine what the county could do with that money. You can tell the judge, the sheriff or your JP how you want it spent.
Help arrives!
I have received some expert help.
No one knows for sure the actual percentages of the revenue principal which will go to the different receivers
I got some help from Jonathon Lance who researched various U.S. Census websites and determined the following ‘per capita’ numbers (remember, these are not official until the State of Arkansas says so, but they’re probably close):
•Dierks — 6.95%.
•Mineral Springs — 8.23%.
•Nashville — 31.51%.
•Tollette — 1.82%,
•Howard County outside the cities — 38.79%.
•Howard Memorial Hospital — 4.85%.
•Developing Howard County — 4.85%.
That translates to a total of 97%, but remember that the State of Arkansas takes 3% for whatever it does.
You can easily see that no matter where you live you will benefit from the extended penny tax.
On Page 1 of this issue of today’s newspaper is an article reminding you when and where you can cast your vote.
Vote FOR the sales tax.
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THE GOOD EARTH and beyond.
Due to fairly mild early morning temperatures I have been able to resume pre-dawn walks in my neighborhood.
For the last several mornings I have tried to watch the sky in hopes of catching a bit of the annual Lyrid Meteor Shower.
No luck with the shooting stars so far but my senses have been thrilled with the almost-forgotten smell of spring blooms and cut grass, and catching the songs of early birds.
It’s much better than staying a little longer under warm covers.
Or not.
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ANIMAL CRACKERS. Already in a heated battle with houseflies (inside) and red wasps (patio).
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MORE THINGS I LEARNED from opening e-mail: “Weight loss goal: To be able to clip my toenails and breathe at the same time.”
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WORD GAMES. The mealtime Appetite siblings: Surf and Turf.
Gosh, just the mention of their names makes me hungry.
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HE SAID: “I’m not comfortable being preachy, but more people need to start spending as much time in the library as they do on the basketball court.” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Hall of Fame member
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SHE SAID: “In the 1960s, you could eat anything you wanted, and of course, people were smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, and there was no talk about fat and anything like that, and butter and cream were rife. Those were lovely days for gastronomy, I must say.” Julia Child, chef
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SWEET DREAMS, Baby
