Developing Howard County Commission discuss 1 percent sales tax at monthly meeting
The Developing Howard County commission met on Thursday and discussed the renewal of a current 1 percent sales and use tax. The measure will be placed on the May 13th School Election ballot.
Voters are being asked to allow Howard County to continue collecting a 1 percent sales and use tax that has been on the books since the construction of the current Howard Memorial Hospital. That 1 percent sales and use tax is scheduled to sunset after the bonds for the construction of the hospital are paid off later this year.
If approved, the Net Collections from the 1 percent sales and use tax would be divided among the county and the municipalities within the county, including Nashville, Dierks, Mineral Springs and Tollette. 10 percent of the county’s portion will be given to the Developing Howard County commission for economic development purposes, such as, funding, promoting, and providing of economic development services and projects to stimulate the local economy. 10 percent would go to Howard Memorial Hospital for the operation, maintenance, improvement, renovation, expansion and equipping of the hospital. And, the reminder of the Net Collections would be used by the county for general purposes.
If the measure is approved by the voters of Howard County, the state would commence levying the tax on January 1, 2026.
Developing Howard County Executive Director Vanessa Weeks toured the Ledwell facility in Texarkana and was informed that the biggest issue Ledwell currently has is a skill gap with new employees. She reported UA Cossatot and Ledwell were working on a partnership to close that gap within the local workforce.
Developing Howard County will also be hosting a community meeting on Tuesday, March 4 at 5:30 pm on the Nashville campus of UA Cossatot. The meeting will be facilitated by Logan Benson with the Community Planning and Development and Brittany Lutz who is a Community Economic Development Specialist.
During the meeting, the commission will present key insights and strategies that have been developed throughout the planning process to ensure they represent the entire county, help identify goals and project for economic growth and outline priority actions, discuss the timeline for finalizing the plan and how you as community leaders can stay involved in the process and move from planning to action.
