Movement expected soon on LR mayor’s bid to raise sales tax

Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s attempt to add a percentage point to the city’s sales-tax rate could go before the Board of Directors for review as early as Tuesday or the next week, according to a spokeswoman for the mayor.

Scott announced during his virtual State of the City broadcast Thursday evening the renewed effort to increase the sales tax.

The mayor announced the sales-tax push in his speech last year, only to have the proposal scuttled by the coronavirus outbreak.

At this time, it’s unclear how the latest iteration of the proposal will differ from the previous version.

Members of the Board of Directors must first approve referral of the tax increase for voters to weigh in.

Mayoral spokeswoman Stephanie Jackson said Friday that officials intend to send the tax increase to voters as soon as possible. She did not mention a target date for an election.

The sales-tax increase is intended to be permanent, she wrote in an email Friday.

Last year’s version of the

tax proposal was expected to raise $50.5 million in new annual revenue for the city. Jackson said Friday that the new proposal is expected to raise $53 million to $54 million annually.

She did not provide a breakdown for how officials plan to spend the new funds among the initiatives Scott mentioned during his speech but said details would be made available as soon as possible.

Asked about what outreach Scott and city staff members have made to city directors, Jackson said the mayor met with them individually.

If the 1 percentage-point raise is approved, Little Rock’s sales tax would ultimately increase by a slightly smaller figure of 0.625 percentage point because a separate 10-year, temporary sales tax for capital improvements of 0.375% is to expire at the end of 2021.

With state and county sales taxes on top of the additional 1%, Little Rock consumers would pay 9.625% on most purchases in 2022, assuming Scott’s tax increase is approved this year.

Sara Lenehan, chief financial officer for the city, wrote in an email Friday that officials will not seek to renew the temporary 0.375% tax.

City Director Doris Wright, who represents Ward 6, said she needed more information on how funds from the increase will be spent based on concerns from constituents regarding public safety and infrastructure.

She referred to the recent shooting death of a 10-yearold girl in Boyle Park, which is in her ward. She also said a plan to improve infrastructure seemed to be based upon traffic volume, noting that neighborhood streets will never experience the same volume as major thoroughfares.

“I do have some concerns, so I’m waiting to hear more information because what I saw was very general,” Wright said by phone Friday.

She said she had not received any information about when the mayor and his team might want to put the issue on the ballot.

Additionally, Wright said, “I didn’t hear enough about the violence that we’re experiencing in the community, and that’s what I’m dealing with out here: How do we address this?”

She said she proposed a violence-prevention project to City Manager Bruce Moore and is waiting to hear back regarding funding.

Scott’s proposal gained the swift endorsement of Antwan Phillips, city director at-large and the newest member of the board.

“I will be supportive of this framework and I’m sure the majority of Little Rock residents will be too,” Phillips wrote Friday in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Phillips wrote that the tax framework aligns with his campaign pledges related to better neighborhoods as well as improved economic and recreational opportunities.

“This framework does all that and more,” Phillips wrote.

During his State of the City address, Scott said a panel he called the Rebuild the Rock Committee would provide oversight for how the salestax dollars are spent, monitor progress and recommend future improvements.

He described the tax increase as an “appropriate, transparent and timely response to a pandemic that has knocked us down but did not knock us out.”

“It will allow us to generate revenue, create new jobs, support small businesses, expand educational opportunities, redevelop and reimagine parks and [the] zoo, invest in our underserved areas and upgrade critical infrastructure in our city and improve public safety,” Scott said.