The Conway Area Chamber of Commerce is supporting a push for voters to raise the city’s sales tax for a number of projects, including a convention center, an outdoor music venue and a theater.
In late September, a ballot question committee called Pick Six for Conway was formed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission. The committee is chaired by Lori Case-Melton, a former chair of the chamber, and includes treasurer Brad Lacy, who is the president and CEO of the chamber.
The proposal would increase Conway’s sales tax from 1.75% to 2.5%. Half of the increase would be used for public safety and for the maintenance of streets and drainage. The other half of the funding would go toward building what the chamber calls “destination-quality civic infrastructure.”
The proposal would use a quarter-cent of the increase for a public safety capital fund for the fire department, police department and emergency communications. The expenditures would include firefighting apparatus, police cruisers, radios and communications technology, according to Jamie Gates, executive vice president at the chamber.
An eighth-cent of the increase would go to a streets and maintenance fund and would replace a portion of a 3/8ths-cent streets fund that expired in 2023. The funding would primarily go to street overlay projects and drainage system improvements, Gates said.
The other half of the sales tax increase would go to destination-oriented civic improvements. Among the proposed projects would be a new $28 million convention center and a $48 million outdoor venue known as the Central Arkansas Music Pavilion, or “CAMP.” Also on tap: a $10 million boardwalk along the north shore of Lake Conway and a $10 million restoration of a historic downtown structure to create a 320-seat live performance venue known as The Grand Theatre.
This story has been updated to include additional proposed expenditures under the sales tax increase.
Sign up for Daily E-news
