State money used for bagpipes, TV, uniforms
In the past two fiscal years, soccer players in Altheimer and Chester got $2,000 for new uniforms, the Conway Fire Department got $5,000 for bagpipes and a high school Lego robotics club got $1,800. Taxpayers paid for it all. For decades, the Arkansas General Assembly allotted each legislator a share of surplus tax money to spend on projects in his legislative district as he saw fit. That money was used for such things as a sports hall of fame, a statue of a war hero, fire departments, rodeos, city sidewalks and chambers of commerce.
But in 2006, Jacksonville attorney Mike Wilson — a lawmaker at the time — challenged such spending as arbitrary and questioned if such local projects served a statewide purpose. The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the practice was unconstitutional. Now who or what receives a portion of the state surplus comes down to decisions made by eight nonprofit panels that work to improve communities and promote economic development.
Most of the hundreds of grants disbursed through the eight planning and development districts go toward keeping fire stations open and equipped, buying food for low-income Arkansans or renovating rural libraries. But the rest is spent on a number of oddities, including most recently $300 for a 50-inch flatscreen TV for a fundraiser at the Bryant Senior Activity Center.
That grant was approved by the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District in September. Two board members, including Martha Feland, opposed the action. Feland, a business representative from Cabot, said the purchase was outside the realm of what the money was supposed to be spent on.
Mary Vickers with the senior citizens center said the grant will directly benefit senior citizens because she hopes to multiply the grant amount by raffling off the TV.
“We want to turn that $300 grant money into $3,000 to purchase ceiling fans, and that benefits the seniors and the different events that we have,” Vickers said.
The largest single grant allocated in fiscal 2012 and 2013 was $45,463. It went to the Argenta Arts Foundation in North Little Rock for supplies for after-school and summer programs. A close second at $45,454 was a grant to the Clark County Farmers Market for “site prep/pavilion.” The smallest grant was $103 for equipment at the Pope County Senior Center.
The Southeast Arkansas Planning and Development District approved $1,002 for a shooting range in the city of Warren. Shannon Hills received $5,000 from the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District to help buy land for a new city park.
The Van Matre Senior Activity Center in Mountain Home received $4,000 to buy 100 dining-room chairs. Big E’s Riding Academy, a nonprofit in Newport, received $200 for horse feed.
Abilities Unlimited in Jonesboro got $3,000 from the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District to buy a new paper shredder. The organization’s mission is to improve the living and working conditions of people with disabilities.
Customers pay to use the commercial or residential shredding service, which provides employment opportunities for the nonprofit’s disabled clients. Profits from the bales of recycled shredded paper help the nonprofit break even on the shredding business. It’s just one part of the nonprofit’s work-training provided to its clients, said Chief Executive Officer Phil Taylor.
Wilson said his issue with the way grants are allocated has nothing to do with what projects receive funding. He filed the 2006 lawsuit because under the old practice, the Legislature appropriated state tax dollars to local projects that only benefited a portion of the state, he said. Funneling the surplus money to planning districts — most of which require a legislator’s letter of support for a project before considering an applicant’s funding request — is circumventing the Supreme Court ruling, Wilson contends.
In September — in fiscal 2014 — the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District allocated $124,000 for a handicap-accessible park in East End at the request of Rep. Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, and other Saline County lawmakers. Mayberry’s wife is spearheading the project.
“A lot of these are really good projects. That’s not the issue,” Wilson said. “The issue is who is more equal than others? Are the people in Benton in need of a handicap playground worse than the people in Jacksonville? I don’t think so. That’s the point — equality.”