After being collected for seven years, the five-eighths cent sales tax, commonly called the Go Forward tax has ended.
Monday was the last day the tax was collected but Pine Bluff will continue to see tax money returned from the state for a couple of months.
The Go Forward plan was approved by voters in 2017 and two attempts to renew it for another seven years failed twice last year, the first time by 100 votes, the second time by more.
Companion three-eighths cent sales taxes devoted to public safety also failed twice last year.
During the life of the tax, money was used to help teachers get a master’s degree, help people buy homes, and fund Urban Renewal if an effort to remove blight, and pay the salary of a grant writer for the city.
Opponents of the tax argued that it placed an additional burden on residents, and that too much emphasis was placed on downtown at the expense of other parts of town.
