Apply now for City Integrity Council
Jonesboro’s City Council approved Tuesday both a special election to consider a 1-cent sales tax for special projects in the city and the creation of an Oversight Integrity Council that will be charged with studying and proposing those projects.
In response, Mayor Harold Perrin announced today that applications to join the nine-person committee will be accepted from Jonesboro residents 18 and older until July 19.
Interested residents may apply online at http://www.jonesboro.org/…/Board-or-Commission-Application-…. Click on “Board/Commission/Committee application.”
Perrin said he wants the Integrity Council to comprise a diverse cross-section of the community. Per the ordinance, three of the positions will be held by two city council members and the A&P Commission chairman.
Jonesboro’s current sales tax is 8.5 percent. Voters will determine whether to add the 1-cent Sept. 10.
Perrin said he hopes the City Council will approve the panel by its Aug. 6 meeting so that it can start meeting Aug. 7 in preparation for the ballot initiative.
If the sales tax initiative is approved by voters, Perrin said this panel’s work is only beginning.
“This will require a lot of work, because this will be the panel that will present major projects to our City Council that will be precious to Jonesboro for years to come,” he said. “Even then, their proposals will have to be approved by the City Council. No one should apply for one of these positions who underestimates the work it will require.”
According to the ordinance passed by the City Council, the Integrity Council would “identify, research, investigate, review and prioritize potential future capital improvements of a public nature with the City … ”
If approved, half of the sales tax receipts would be dedicated to “operations, maintenance and staffing of capital improvements” in City police and fire departments.
The other half-cent would fund “acquisition, construction, repair, equipping, and improving capital improvements of a public nature for the arts, aquatics, beautification, libraries, museums, park facilities, recreational facilities, sidewalks and trail systems, and for operation, maintenance and staffing of such improvements … ”