Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin says the key to Jonesboro’s success in the future lies in how it can attract more people to not only come to the city, but decide to stay. Perrin says some of next year’s budget has specific items that will address quality of life issues, such as this example from the city’s Parks and Recreation budget.
“We had four tournaments that were rained out this year and that means that $70,000 in sales tax revenue has been lost because we couldn’t hold those tournaments,” says Perrin. “That is important because it is a quality of life issue.”
He is proposing turf fields that would help keep tournaments from being rained out, which could keep sales tax in Jonesboro. He says those kinds of items can be looked at as additional sources of revenue. Jonesboro next year is facing almost 13 million dollars in capital improvement projects scheduled. Right now, the city is expected to take that much money out of reserves to pay for those projects, but Perrin warns that money could run out quickly in a few years. You can look at the proposed 2018 budget here. The budget will be looked at again at the next city council meeting.
In other news, Jonesboro has received a COPS federal grant of over $200,000 that will be used to hire two new police officers…the city’s match on that grant is just over $83,000. He also stated that local businesses are helping with the city to help address the homeless issue in Jonesboro. He says that over 400 people have gone through the HUB that is located in the Christian Activity Center at First Baptist Church to receive help on how to get into housing, but there is more work to do. Donations from businesses are making their way to help, but he stresses this is a year-round issue, not just something that people think of during the Holiday season.