Road tax ruling fuels both sides

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court decision Thursday to bar money from the 0.5% sales tax for paying for highways, bridges and local roads from being spent on 30 Crossing provided political fodder for both sides of a proposed constitutional amendment to make the tax permanent that voters will decide Tuesday.

The state’s high court ruled 6-1 based on the language of Amendment 91 to the Arkansas Constitution, the state Department of Transportation cannot use that money for projects on highways wider than four lanes, which includes the nearly $1 billion 30 Crossing project and the already completed widening of a section of Interstate 630 in west Little Rock.

Voters approved the amendment and tax in 2012 as part of the $1.8 billion Connecting Arkansas Program,

focused on regionally significant projects such as the Interstate 30 corridor through downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock.

The tax was proposed to be a temporary one and is in place for 10 years. It is scheduled to expire in 2023.

Voters are being asked to approve another 0.5% statewide sales tax for funding highways, bridges and local roads. On the ballot as Issue 1, the proposal would make the tax permanent .

The campaign to pass Issue 1 has been led by Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Vote for Roads, Vote for Issue 1 committee, which is chaired by Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton.

The governor said Friday the court ruling “should impress on everyone an even greater urgency for Issue 1.”

“The Supreme Court decision ruled that the original highway program (Connecting Arkansas) cannot be fulfilled because of the restriction to only spend the bond money on 4 lane projects,” the statement continued. “This means that the bond money cannot be spent on the major Central Arkansas project.

“Issue 1 allows the state to “pay-as-you-go” for highway projects and provides flexibility without the constraints of the Connect Arkansas bond program.”

A group opposed to Issue 1, the No Permanent Tax. No on Issue 1 committee, seized on the decision as evidence the Transportation Department cannot be trusted with public money.

“This ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court shows ArDOT has been misusing taxpayer dollars to fund large projects in Little Rock for years,” said Ryan Norris, the committee chairman and Arkansas director of Americans for Prosperity. “ArDOT is currently under audit for wasteful spending and the court’s decision validates how unaccountable the transportation department has become by taking funds that should have gone to road maintenance and 4-lane highways across the state as it had promised the voters in 2012.

“Voting no on Issue 1 would bring some accountability back to the people and the people’s representatives.”

Newton called it a “little bit of a stretch” to tie Issue 1 with a ruling dealing with Amendment 91.

“It doesn’t have any bearing on the Issue 1 campaign,” she said. “Our efforts are to secure adequate and longterm funding for highways, bridges, county roads and city streets in Arkansas.”

The Arkansas Highway Commission defended the projects and the way they were funded Friday.