BENTON – The Benton City Council unanimously approved a 1 percent Home Rule Sales Tax ordinance at Monday’s meeting.
Revenue from this tax will be restricted for water, sewer and street maintenance projects. It will go into effect Jan. 1
Finance Commissioner Christopher Kays told the council he hopes Franklin County has the new courthouse paid off by then so there won’t be a tax burden on residents. Kays says the courthouse project was done with pre-Covid dollars and is being paid for with post-Covid dollars. The county said revenue coming in from the 1 percent sales tax increase to pay for the courthouse has exceeded projections because of Covid, inflation and other reasons, so the payoff has been moved up to sometime next year.
Kays feels like he has answered many questions about this issue and says he will continue to do so as long as people are interested.
Kays noted that the nice thing about this tax pool is people who shop in Benton from outside the community contribute to the city’s infrastructure. He says this tax doesn’t fall on the backs of property owners or creates an astronomical water rate.
A public hearing on the Home Rule Sales Tax ordinance was held prior to the meeting. Kays also held a Facebook livestream forum on this issue Sunday.
