Sales Tax Meeting Held at Hempstead Hall
HOPE- A meeting was held at Hempstead Hall on Tuesday, January 28 to discuss a 1% sales tax. This meeting was an opportunity for the citizens of Hempstead County to give their opinions on the sales tax.
Hempstead County Judge, Jerry Crane stated “This sales tax, to me is the fairest thing we could do because not only you, but anybody that goes down the interstate, anybody who spends the night at a motel, anybody who buys gas, anybody that spends money, they will be contributing to getting into the new courthouse.”
Darling: “When the project was originally started the renovation total was $1.7million, other fees associated with it were architecture and engineering $400,000, furniture and fixtures $300,000, the old building for another $300,000. All records dating back to 18th-Century that we have there we have to microfilm put on computer disk or something else, and depending on how much the state is willing to give us, thats probably going to cost in the neighborhood of $300,000.”
At this time they are unsure of what will become of the old courthouse building, they have considered sealing off the 1939 Courthouse similar to the VA Hospital located into Little Rock.
The new courthouse will sit in District 1 and James Griffin will be serving as the JP for that district.
Griffin made several points on relocating the Courthouse:
1.We can do this in 24 months and handle it.
2.The useable life of the 1936 Courthouse is short. Mold, asbestos, and ADA requirements are more then we can handle
3.Price tag for the renovations of the old courthouse is higher than moving into a different building
4.County purchased the Farmers building at a very attractive price.
5.Without community support of the sales tax thats dedicated to the upkeep and maintenance and operation of the building it cannot be operated at the level it is being operated, which is necessary.
6.County doesn’t have the money to make the conversion of new courthouse into the Farmers building without a tax.
They then took questions from the community.
Q: How much money will be made over a course of two years with this sales tax?
A: They believe that $5.7 will be made.
Q: Are there any offices that will not make the migration to the new the new site?
A: All offices, excluding the Hempstead County Extension Office will make the move.
Q: When the initial sale of buying the building was put into place the public was promised that there would be no taxes and that there was money in the budget, where did that money go?
A: $1.5 went to pay for the building and architects have also been paid over a years time.
Q: This tax increase is needed for the new courthouse at the old bank, however the bank is still in good condition, so why so much money in renovating a building thats in good shape?
A: Its in good condition for a bank. They have to have courtrooms on the upper floors.
Q: How much money was set aside for remodeling when building was bought?
A: $1.7 with $1.4 still sitting there.
Q: Is this sales tax going to make it harder to attract business and industry and maintain retail businesses in Hope?
A: Unless you are spending a lot of money 1% is not a whole lot to pay for the investment of the future of Hempstead County.
Q: What is the total move in cost?
A: $4.5-5.7 with the gap being on deciding what to do with the old courthouse.
Q: How much would it cost to seal it off like the VA Hospital?
A: $200-300,000
Q: How many times has money been borrowed from hospital funding and how much has been repaid?
A: Money was borrowed in 2019, and has not been repaid. They are trying to level out cash flows, they should be leveled out by the end of the first quarter.
Future meetings are scheduled for:
Jan. 30th Spring Hill 6:00
Feb. 3rd Fulton Community Center 6:30
Feb. 4th at Bingen Community Center 6:00
Feb. 11th McNab Community Center 6:00
Feb.13th Southeast Fire Station 6:00
Feb. 18th Blevins City Hall 6:00
Feb.25th Washington Fire Station 6:00
*Fact Sheets attached below were created by the Cooperative Extension Service*
