Hot Springs shoppers will pay less at the cash register today. The half-cent, citywide sales tax that Hot Springs voters approved 12 years ago - initially to fund construction of the Hot Springs Convention Center, then Summit Arena - has ended.
The city asked the state to stop collection of the tax in April, when it had sufficient funds on hand to pay off the bonds. Because of the 60-day lag time inherent in the notification process, the tax did not expire until May 31, 2007.
Voters initially approved the half-cent tax in March 1995, to expand and remodel Hot Springs Convention Auditorium. The original projected payoff date for the bonds was 2012, which was later revised to 2002-2003.
In 2001, about a year and a half before the tax would have ended, voters agreed to re-levy the tax to fund the arena's construction, refunding $11.7 million in remaining principal on the convention bonds and issuing $28.1 million in new bonds to finance the arena's construction.
Because of economic expansion and growth brought about by the convention center and local attractions, those bonds are being repaid in half that time - in six years, as reported by David Bartlett, president & chief operating officer of Simmons First Corp. -- article reported by the Sentinel Record
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