Harrison & Boone Co., Ark., leaders encouraging voters to approve sales tax

BOONE COUNTY, Ark. (KY3) - This week marked one month until the general election; many counties across the Ozarks have money issues on the ballot, like Boone County and Harrison, Arkansas. Both are asking voters to approve a sales tax for police, fire, and the county jail.

“You’ll still be paying the same amount of tax in 2027 as you are this year in 2026 if both taxes are passed,” said Chris Graddy, the Harrison Chief of Police.

Voters in Boone County will decide on two sales taxes, both of which have been in effect for more than two decades.

In Harrison, it’s a 0.25% sales tax with 65% of it going to maintaining police and fire services. The rest goes to other city services, which include human resources and taking care of both fire and police vehicles. The only difference is, this tax would not expire.

“We’re always going to have to have fire and police. Our town has done nothing but grow in the last 24 years,” said Graddy. “We’ve kind of increased our officers as our needs have increased as the town has grown, and we just don’t want to step back.”

“We’re averaging about ten runs a day: medical, fires, wrecks,” said Marc Lowery, the Harrison Fire Chief. “We provide a lot of services, not only in the city limits, but we go out in the surrounding counties to help.”

In Boone County, the so-called “jail tax” is another 0.25% sales tax that will go toward maintaining the county’s jail. It would run through 2036.

“Our overall county jail budget is about $2.7 million a year. It pays for the majority of the day-to-day operation of the county jail,” said Tim Roberson, the sheriff-elect for Boone County.

If the taxes fail, Boone County would face a budget shortfall, while Harrison would have to cut a dozen police and fire positions.

“With the lessened personnel, we’re going to be limited in what we can help with because we’ve got to protect the city first. We’ll be delayed. We’re not going to not answer a call, no matter what happens; it may just be longer,” said Lowery.

“We will have to make adjustments,” said Roberson. “Our overall county budget is in the neighborhood of $24 million. So it’s about 10% of the budget that we’re going to have to make up somewhere.”

The general election will be held on November 3. Check out sample ballots by clicking here.

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com. Please include the article info in the subject line of the email.