| Sales tax | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| State of Arkansas | 6.5% | Same rate statewide · Arkansas DFA |
| Clark County | 1.5% | Includes the 0.5% EDCCC half-cent and the 0.5% road-bond pledge · DFA rate table, 2025 |
| City of Arkadelphia | 2.0% | Current rate effective April 1, 2023 · DFA rate table, 2025 |
| Total at an Arkadelphia register | 10.0% |
Property tax inside Arkadelphia city limits is 59.75 mills, about $1,195 a year on a $100,000 home before the homestead credit. The school district takes 47.65 of those mills, the county 7.1, and the city 5.0. Source: State millage report, 2025.
A countywide half-cent sales tax, 100% remitted to the Economic Development Corporation of Clark County "to be used solely for economic development." Voters approved it June 12, 2007 for seven years and renewed it March 11, 2014 and June 8, 2021 for seven more each.
| Year | Collected | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | $1,519,548 | County audit 2008, Note 14, p. 18 |
| 2009 | $1,372,032 | County audit 2009, Note 14, p. 18 |
| 2010 | $1,357,884 | County audit 2010, Note 14, p. 17 |
| 2011 | $1,419,510 | County audit 2011, Note 14, p. 19 |
| 2012 | $1,461,271 | County audit 2012, Note 14, p. 18 |
| 2013 | $1,498,988 | County audit 2013, Note 15, p. 18 |
| 2014 | $1,521,172 | County audit 2014, Note 13, p. 18 |
| 2015 | $1,442,943 | County audit 2015, Note 15, p. 18 |
| 2016 | $1,597,480 | County audit 2016, Schedule 2, p. 15 |
| 2017 | $1,576,248 | County audit 2017, Note 8, p. 25 |
| 2018 | $1,658,791 | County audit 2018, Note 9, p. 26 |
| 2019 | $1,572,733 | County audit 2019, Note 11, p. 27 |
| 2020 | $1,839,529 | County audit 2020, Schedule 2, p. 29 |
| 2021 | $1,889,035 | County audit 2021, Schedule 2, p. 14 |
| 2022 | $1,963,094 | County audit 2022, Schedule 2, p. 15 |
| 2023 | $1,741,474 | County audit 2023, Schedule 2, p. 31 |
| 2008–2023, audited | $25,431,732 | |
| 2025 budgeted | $1,872,787 | County budget 2025 |
| 2026 budgeted | $1,844,538 | County budget 2026 |
| Audited + budgeted | $29,149,057 | The last two years are budget figures, not audited collections. |
2007 (the tax's first months) has no separate figure in that year's audit, and the 2024 county audit is not yet published. Who received the money, and on what terms, is not public. That is Docket #5. Docket #5 · The line in the money trail
The city's own sales-tax revenue into its General Fund. Voters added a cent in 2019, and revenue nearly tripled.
| Year | Collected | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $2,159,716 | City audit 2019, p. 7 |
| 2020 | $4,469,434 | City audit 2020, p. 7 |
| 2021 | $5,227,927 | City audit 2021, p. 8 |
| 2022 | $6,082,188 | City audit 2022, p. 8 |
| 2023 | $6,342,895 | City audit 2023, p. 8 |
| 2024 | $6,217,641 | City audit 2024, p. 8 |
| Borrowed | $20,035,000 (2021) + $15,015,000 (2022) |
| Paid from | The 17.65 debt mills voted at the 2015 school election |
| Paid off | May 2047 |
| Cost | $43,307,031 in principal and interest still owed at June 30, 2024, on $32,590,000 of principal — about $10.7 million of that is interest |
Sources: Arkadelphia School District No. 1 — audit, year ended June 30, 2024 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), Notes 5–6, pp. 16–18 · Arkadelphia School District No. 1 — Official Statement, $20,035,000 Refunding Bonds, dated February 4, 2021 · Arkadelphia School District No. 1 — Official Statement, $15,015,000 Construction Bonds, dated June 9, 2022 · Arkadelphia School District No. 1 — Official Statement, $21,195,000 Refunding and Construction Bonds, dated November 1, 2015
| Borrowed | $37,170,000 (2026) |
| Paid from | 3 new mills (44.65 to 47.65) and 2 shifted mills, voted November 18, 2025 |
| Paid off | 2056 |
| Cost | $74,544,616 in principal and interest through 2056 — $37,374,616 of it interest, more than the building |
Sources: Arkadelphia School District No. 1 — Official Statement, $37,170,000 Construction Bonds, Series 2026, p. 12 (debt service schedule) · University of Arkansas voter fact sheet — Arkadelphia School District, November 18, 2025 election
| Borrowed | $8,460,000 (2021), at 1.125–2.00% |
| Paid from | A 0.5% sales tax pledge |
| Paid off | June 2036 |
| Cost | $1,249,445 in interest over the life of the bonds; $7,760,000 principal still owed at the end of 2023 |
Sources: Clark County — Financial and Compliance Report, year ended December 31, 2021 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), debt service schedule, p. 26 · Clark County — Financial and Compliance Report, year ended December 31, 2023 (Arkansas Legislative Audit)
| Borrowed | $3,505,000 in 2019 bonds, at 3–3.45% |
| Paid from | City franchise fees (bonds); the General Fund and other funds (equipment) |
| Paid off | March 2044 (bonds) |
| Cost | $3,660,915 in total city long-term debt at the end of 2024, including $3,025,000 on the bonds |
Sources: City of Arkadelphia — Regulatory Basis Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), Long-term debt note
| Borrowed | Up to $2,000,000 (October 2019), at 3.19% |
| Paid from | The General Fund; the city assigned "the revenue generated by the 2019 sales tax as a collateral" |
| Paid off | Paid off October 2024 |
| Cost | 19 payments of $108,525 |
Sources: City of Arkadelphia — Regulatory Basis Financial Statements, December 31, 2022 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), Long-term debt note
| Borrowed | $6,880,375 still owed at the end of 2023 |
| Paid from | Water and sewer rates, not taxes |
| Paid off | 2027, 2049, and 2052 |
| Cost | $166,607 in interest paid in 2023 |
Sources: Arkadelphia Water and Sewer System — audit, year ended December 31, 2023
Every government here keeps its money in banks — the law requires deposits to be insured or backed by collateral the bank pledges. What differs is who each one owes, and how much.
| In the bank | $22,237,048 |
| Owed | $7,902,053 |
$1,285,351 FDIC-insured, $20,250,848 backed by collateral the banks pledge, $700,849 in a money-market fund of U.S. government securities. Some of it is tax money the county collects for other governments ($3,368,501 waiting to be paid out).
$7,760,000 of 2021 road bonds, owed to bond investors and paid from a 0.5% sales tax through June 2036, plus $142,053 of short-term financing.
Sources: Clark County — Financial and Compliance Report, year ended December 31, 2023 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), Note 2 and Exhibit A · Clark County — Financial and Compliance Report, year ended December 31, 2023 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), Note 8
| In the bank | $3,481,123 |
| Owed | $3,660,915 |
$668,829 FDIC-insured, $2,570,709 backed by pledged collateral, $241,585 in a U.S. government money-market fund.
$3,025,000 of 2019 bonds owed to bond investors, plus $635,915 borrowed straight from three banks: Regions Bank for an excavator (1.69%, ended Sept 2025), Southern Bancorp for a fire truck (4.89%, through April 2028), and a Citizens Bank line of credit for the airport hangar and taxiway (5.89%, due July 3, 2026). A separate $2 million line of credit was paid off in October 2024.
Sources: City of Arkadelphia — Regulatory Basis Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), Note 2 · City of Arkadelphia — Regulatory Basis Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), Long-term debt note
| In the bank | $14,442,525 |
| Owed | $114,088,975 |
$750,000 FDIC-insured and $13,692,525 backed by pledged collateral, including $4,215,519 in certificates of deposit. The new elementary school still had $1,359,417 of construction contract left to pay at that date.
After the 2026 high-school bonds, $114,088,975 of principal and interest is still due from 2027 through 2056 — all to bond investors. If the district ever missed a payment, state law has the state make it and take the money out of the district’s state aid.
Sources: Arkadelphia School District No. 1 — audit, year ended June 30, 2024 (Arkansas Legislative Audit), Deposits note · Arkadelphia School District No. 1 — Official Statement, $37,170,000 Construction Bonds, Series 2026, p. 12
The district borrowed $37,170,000 for the high school in 2026. It will pay back $74,544,616 by 2056. What doubled the cost wasn’t borrowing — it was stretching the loan over 30 years.
| How it’s paid for | How long | Total paid |
|---|---|---|
| What happened: a 30-year loan, $1.9 million a year, then $3.8 million a year from 2048 | 30 years (2027–2056) | $74,544,616 |
| Same loan, same cost (about 4.4% a year), paid with the district’s full debt tax of $6.34 million a year | about 7 years | $43,953,138 |
| Save first with the full debt tax, then build | about 6 years before building | $38,033,172 |
The catch: the full debt tax isn’t free today. About $1.9 million a year still goes to the 2021 and 2022 bonds through 2047. The district’s 22.65 debt mills raise about $6.34 million a year, while payments in 2027 are about $3.8 million; the bond statement shows that cushion as “coverage.” Once every bond is paid, the same mills could pay cash for a $37 million school about every 6 years.
Open question: What happens to the roughly $2.5 million a year the debt mills raise above the payments isn’t shown in these documents. That is the next question to ask the district.
Our arithmetic: the 4.4% is the cost built into the bond schedule itself (what $37,170,000 today is worth against the 30 payments). The 7-year and 6-year rows use that same rate and no interest earned, in today’s dollars of the year paid. Sources: Arkadelphia School District No. 1 — Official Statement, $37,170,000 Construction Bonds, Series 2026, pp. 11–12 · Play it out on the What-if page
The half-cent has sent $25,431,732 to economic development from 2008 through 2023. Over roughly the same years, the school district borrowed for new buildings and still owes about $10.7 million in interest on its 2021 and 2022 bonds alone. Saved instead of borrowed, the half-cent's 16 audited years add up to about 73% of the $35.05 million in those two bond issues.
The half-cent's current seven-year term began with the June 2021 vote, so the next renewal would fall around 2028. That vote is when residents decide.
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