Trumann voters will decide next Tuesday (Sept. 9) on the fate of the one percent sales and use tax initiative to provide funds for water and sewer improvements and street improvements. Voting will be held at the Old Community House from 7:30 a.m. until 7 p.m.

The city has funded projects using the one cent sales tax since 1990. Projects include the Trumann Sports Complex, the new Trumann Fire Station, street improvements, sewer improvements, the purchase of two new fire trucks, the splash pad and improvements to the Trumann Police Department facility as well as improvements to the Trumann District Court.

Mayor Sheila Walters and the city council are seeking funds to purchase needed equipment for the city's water and sewer system and for street improvements. Approval of the bond issue will not raise the city's current sales tax of 8.25 cents.

The city's most pressing need is for new sewer curtains for the sewer lagoon. The curtains must be replaced in the near future at an estimated cost of $194,000. The present curtains allow water to pass through the lagoon in approximately a week. Water should remain in the pond for 40 days. The water passes through the maze of curtains and is purified by air.

"Our three sewer ponds should hold the water for 80 days to three months," Trumann Water Works Manager Gerald Smith said. "Today the ponds allow the water to work through in about two weeks due to the faulty curtains."

Walters has stressed that the sales tax is a good way to pay for improvements in the city. "It is a fair tax since everyone pays it," she said. "It is also paid by people who shop in our city who do not live here."

The one cent sales tax is needed to purchase equipment for the city's sewer system, the city's water system and street improvements. Six issues will be on the bond issue ballot. The first issue will be the adoption of the 1% sales and use tax. The second issue will be the refunding $675,000 of bonds from the 2005 bond initiative. The third issue will be funding $870,000 in bonds for the purpose of sewer improvement.

The fourth issue will be funding $575,000 of water improvement bonds. The fifth issue will be funding $475,000 for refunding sewer bonds. The sixth issue will be funding $870,000 for street improvement bonds.

Smith said residents need to realize that for many years Trumann Water Works has taken care of water and sewer throughout the city with outdated equipment.

"We've been talking about these problems for years," Smith said. "It's just come to the point where they have to be fixed."

If improvements aren't made to Trumann Water Works, it is possible that the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) could take over the utility and run it. ADEQ would then have the authority to raise water and sewer rates to cover all improvements needed in the local water and sewer system.

Officials at Trumann Water Works have estimated that current Trumann water rates would have to be raised 34% to purchase only the sewer curtains which would add approximately $10-12 monthly to a water bill for a family of four or $144 per family per year.

Trumann water rates are the sixth lowest in the state of Arkansas. Trumann sewer rates are the 36th lowest in the state.

Officials say there are other water and sewer problems that also must be addressed.

In addition to the cost of replacing the sewer curtains at the city's sewage lagoon and water treatment plant, Trumann Water Works needs to replace four water pumps at the city's pumping station, repair the main water well in the city, repair and paint the city's three water tanks, repair the wellhouse on Davis Street, and buy a camera to search for blockages in local sewage lines. The repairs and purchases are estimated to top $480,000.

With the increased revenue the city would have been able to pay off the 2005 bond issue, originally scheduled to be paid off in 2013, sometime in 2009. This is due to the fact that tax revenues from the bond issue have increased over the past several years.

In 1998 the city of Trumann collected $560,917 in sales tax. Sales tax collections averaged $46, 743 each month. In 2008 the city estimates it will collect $755,000 in sales tax. This year the city has averaged a monthly sales tax revenue of $62,997.

Walters said the improvements to the city water and sewer system and the local streets are needed now.

"We are watching our dollars in every aspect of the city and our city departments," she said. "We simply do not have the funds for these projects except through using sales tax revenue."