Voters in Arkansas City will receive mailed ballots in early August asking whether they want to jettison two sales tax initiatives for South Central Medical Center in favor of one.
Instead of paying 1.5 percent on purchases in town to keep the hospital afloat, as they are now, residents and others would be paying just 1 percent, if the tax is approved. The deadline to return the ballots will by Sept. 6.
As city officials explained it, the key difference is that the new, 1-percent tax would not have an ending date, as the others do. That would help reassure those holding the hospital’s construction bonds that a constant stream of money exists to repay the debt, which now stands at nearly $40 million including principal and interest, and is scheduled to be paid off in 2038 under the current financing plan.
As of right now, a half-cent tax is scheduled to expire early next year, and a 1 cent tax ends in 2026.
So even thought the overall sales tax revenue for the facility will drop, the consistent revenue year after year through the life of the bonds will help the city to renegotiate a better interest rate and lower its annual payments, which today stand at $1,885,505 for 2018.
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