Voices heard in favor of, against taxes
Two separate taxes were explained by Go Forward Pine Bluff CEO Ryan Watley and Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington during Tuesday’s press conference — the three-eighths-cent sales tax, better known as the public safety tax, and the five-eights-cent tax renewal.
The purpose of the public safety tax is to financially support the Pine Bluff Fire and Police Departments through enhanced training, equipment and the adopted salary schedule.
Supporters of both taxes, including council members and other city leaders, expressed why both taxes would be beneficial for the city.
“This is a very critical time in Pine Bluff for our city to have the funding needed to bring about the changes our citizens want to see in our community,” said Ward 2 Council Member Steven Shaner, who told his constituents to listen to him and vote in favor of both taxes. “Not only do we have public tax dollars that we need to keep going but we also have private dollars that people will invest because they see we will invest to clean up our city, better our education system and make it safer.”
Council Member Lanette Frazier of Ward 3 said she supported the tax and that in order to move forward everyone would need to support the tax and work together.
“We have to work together to move this city forward in order to have a better quality of life, work and play,” she said. “We have to do what we can. It’s going to take all of us working together and this tax is very significant in making that happen.”
Council Member Latisha Brunson was overcome with emotion as she talked about why she supported the tax. As a Pine Bluff native who has witnessed generational struggles, she said she believed the tax would benefit everyone because of the opportunities it would bring.
“My grandmother would say take care of the city, take care of your people, take care of your community,” said Brunson, who added that she would make sure things were done fair, decent and in order.
As a new council member representing Ward 1, Brunson was also frustrated with the personal reasons behind the tax she feels is dividing the community “When you look around the city, we have no room to be arguing about things that you can blatantly see that we do not have that we need,” she said. “For me it’s important we do the work that needs to be done and not focus on who started this and why.”
Council member Glen Brown Jr., public safety chair and a member of the GFPB review committee, said if the tax does not pass, there would be consequences.
“The alternatives are the increase in blighted properties
throughout the city, slow and delayed growth in downtown and urban renewal area and a continued exit of public safety officers seeking a more competitive salary from other cities,” said Brown. “It is vital that we pass both the fiveeighth-cent and the threeeighth-cent sales tax. There is still much more to get done in Pine Bluff where it needs and deserves to be. We must come together and decide whether or not a penny is too much for us to bear or serve as a catalyst and continue to grow and develop.”
Council Members Glen Brown Sr., Steven Mays Sr., and Bruce Lockett weren’t in attendance at the early morning press conference, but Washington assured the crowd that the city council members were on board and are in full support of the continuation of the sales tax. Washington said the council members fully embrace the initiative and fully understand.
“We keep them apprised of everything that’s going on every step of the way,” she said. “It is important that all of the players on the Go Forward team work together with the city officials, mayor, and city council. What’s happening with our city council is the makeup of it is changing.”
Brown Sr. and Mays have on many occasions spoken out against how the Go Forward tax is being spent. Lockett voted against the ordinances putting the two tax proposals on the ballot. Brown Sr. and Mays have said Go Forward spending has been wasteful at a time when other Pine Bluff projects are more needed.
Another former council member, Joni Alexander, who wasn’t at the press conference but viewed it online, said she believes people have to be honest with themselves and the reality of Pine Bluff.
When it came to the public safety tax, she said the Pine Bluff City Council has always made public safety a priority with raises given since 2020 to the Pine Bluff Police Department.
“Though Pine Bluff PD’s calls for service per officer are extremely high for a population this size the Pine Bluff PD has come a long way, salary-wise,” she said. “Unfortunately, [even] with the raises, the PBPD is still understaffed. If you ask any officer that has left since the raises, the cause is usually not because of their salary.”
Alexander, who earlier had been a proponent of the Go Forward tax, grew over time to be an opponent of the seven-year tax plan, saying the mayor put little effort into working with the city council members because she was too occupied working with Watley on Go Forward projects, an accusation also voiced by Ivan Whitfield both before he left the city council and after.
While most current council members support the tax proposals, it was Whitfield who called the taxes “terrible.”
“It is a regressive tax,” he said. “We have the highest tax in the state of Arkansas.”
As president of the Pine Bluff NAACP, Whitfield said the organization opposed the tax because Go Forward did not raise the $20 million as part of the private/public partnership, the private funds are not made public, the funds are being controlled by bankers, the tax is not defined and the tax is unfair to the poor, low-income and those with a fixed income.
“Our people are being misled,” said Whitfield. “We are the only city that I know of that owns three hotels and none of them are open for business because of a vague tax.”
Whitfield was referring to the three hotels purchased by Urban Renewal, the Admiral Benbow Inn purchased for approximately $150,000, which will be torn down for the construction of a go-kart track with an estimated construction budget of $2.5 million, and the Plaza Hotel purchased for 1.2 million, which will be torn down for the construction of a $24 million Marriott Courtyard Hotel. The third hotel, the Crown Motel, purchased for approximately $35,000, has attracted interest from investors but no deal has been signed.
“As president of NAACP what happened to those $25 million and the $20 million that they promised,” asked Whitfield. “Why is it the mayor and the city council cannot handle the tax dollars? We elected them to handle this money. Why are we putting this money back in the hands of the people that allowed our city to be run down?”
Whitfield continued by saying somebody had to make a stand. He also said that, as a former police officer and chief of police totaling 34 years with the Pine Bluff Police Department, the public safety tax means nothing if it’s not on paper.
“Show me the form where it shows what they are going to do with it,” he said. “They are not going to break it down on the ballot. No one does a tax without a breakdown.”
According to Watley, the initiatives of the tax and reevaluating what they could do better came from the input of the community. Watley said their mission is to promote a positive image and combat the “Crime Bluff ” label. He also said various meetings with the public showed there was some dissatisfaction with Go Forward’s heavy focus on downtown. Plans with the tax renewal will be investments in each ward and establishing Urban Renewal zones in the 3rd and 4th wards.
Other investments include rehabilitating buildings in the historic downtown Pine Bluff/Delta Rhythm and Bayous Cultural District as well as workforce developments within secondary schools and collaborative partnerships with UAPB and SEARK.
The special election for the two tax proposals is May 9. The five-eighth-cent tax would, like the current one being levied, sunset seven years from the 2024 expiration or 2031. The three-eighth-cent tax would not expire.