Photo Courtesy of Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau
Little Rock voters rejected two sales tax proposals on Tuesday, marking the second time residents have shown opposition to a citywide tax increase in recent years.
According to the Pulaski County Board of Election Commissioners, the unofficial results were as follows:
⅜-cent permanent increase:
- For — 29,892 (38.36%)
- Against — 44,119 (56.62%)
⅝-cent increase for the next decade:
- For — 27,279 (35.01%)
- Against — 46,753 (60%)
Combined, the 1-cent sales tax increase would have accumulated an estimated $650 million over the next 10 years and would have brought the overall sales tax rate in Little Rock to 9.625%, with 2.215% going to the city, 1% to Pulaski County and 6.5% to the state.
“While we are disappointed in today’s sales tax results, we respect the decision of Little Rock voters,” Mayor Frank Scott Jr. posted on social media early Wednesday. “We will continue to improve quality of life and place initiatives and keep moving forward to take Little Rock to higher heights.”
Spokesperson Aaron Sadler did not return a media inquiry Wednesday about the city’s plans for moving forward with investment opportunities.
Scott, Little Rock’s first popularly-elected Black mayor who is currently serving his second term, has made multiple attempts for a sales tax increase during his administration. The proposals that residents voted on this year were an amended effort from an attempt last year to send similar proposals to the ballot in 2023.
The previous proposals did not make the ballot because they lacked enough support from the Little Rock Board of Directors. Voters also rejected a 1-cent sales tax increase 62%-38% during a special election in 2021.
Arkansas Community Organizations, a small grassroots nonprofit based in Little Rock, opposed this year’s sales tax proposals. The group’s members have also been involved in other opposing efforts in previous years.
“I am glad that the sales tax did not go through because there was not enough to address the housing and homelessness in our city,” ACO member Norma Huffman said in a statement Wednesday. “A sports complex is not something we really need. And it is hard for many of us to make ends meet right now.”
Huffman was a resident of the troubled Big Country Chateau apartment complex in Little Rock, and she has spoken at many housing rallies pleading with officials to enforce better conditions.
Proposed improvements, had the sales tax passed
Scott pitched the sales tax increase for improvements to the “Four Ps”: Parks and recreation, public safety, public infrastructure and the Port of Little Rock, according to an analysis of the tax proposal from the Arkansas Times.
An analysis of Little Rock’s proposed sales tax now before voters
Parks were slated for the largest chunk of the estimated funding, with nearly $295 million. Of those funds, $115 million would have gone toward the construction of indoor and outdoor sports complexes.
Other park funding would have supported projects at Hindman and War Memorial parks, the Little Rock Zoo and a new downtown park.
Public infrastructure, slated for $137 million of the estimated tax revenue, would have paid for street resurfacing and sidewalk construction, trash collection equipment and “strategic infrastructure improvements,” which the city did not define.
Public safety was up for $113 million, a portion of which would have funded the Little Rock Police Department’s operations, including the real-time crime center, a hub at headquarters that utilizes city cameras to find suspects, stolen cars and aid in preventing or solving other crimes.
Other public safety projects that would have been funded include additional money for code enforcement, which oversees housing in Little Rock, community-oriented policing and fire station renovations.
The Port of Little Rock would have received an estimated $30 million under the tax proposals, most of which would have provided development incentives for land acquisition and infrastructure that could be used anywhere in Little Rock.
Additional funding would have provided other citywide improvements outside of Scott’s “Four Ps,” including $20 million to address homelessness, $10 million for affordable housing and $12.25 million for the city’s information technology department.
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