Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – Voters in Jonesboro rejected a proposed 5/8-cent public safety sales and use tax during Tuesday’s election.

According to unofficial election results, the measure failed with 10,244 votes against the tax to 7,156 votes in favor.

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The defeat means Jonesboro’s combined sales tax rate will remain unchanged at 8.5%. The measure, driven by the Safety First for Jonesboro ballot committee, sought to generate an estimated $16 million to $17 million annually.

Safety First for Jonesboro previously said the tax revenue would be dedicated exclusively to Jonesboro’s police, fire and E-911 dispatch services, helping fund projects such as a new police station, new fire stations as well as hiring of additional police officers, firefighters and dispatchers.

“I’d like to thank the supporters of our initiative to help fund public safety in Jonesboro. We’re disappointed that it didn’t pass. We’re gonna keep providing the level of service at the best level we can, and we challenge the opposition to find the money that they claim is in the budget to be spent on public safety,” Safety First for Jonesboro chairman Matt Garrett told JRN.

Garrett said the committee will be involved as much as possible regarding advocating for additional public safety funding.

Iris Stevens, administrator of Citizens Taxed Enough, a group that opposed the tax, said the City of Jonesboro needed to reprioritize its budget to focus on funding public safety.

“I hope this tells the city government what they need to be doing,” she told JRN. “This is more a case of prioritizing funds and putting funds where they’re needed for police, fire and 911. Instead of thinking that we have to fund everything that the mayor calls quality of life, I think we have a difference of opinion in quality of life.”

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