LITTLE ROCK — One would presume that the proposed one-cent Little Rock sales tax increase is dead on arrival. The economy is in the tank, people are scared, the Tea Party hates all taxes, and an ominous cloud of distrust hovers perpetually over city hall.
Those of us who delight in tormenting municipal government must never take anything for granted. It was not very many years ago that, despite my ardent and well-argued opposition, the voters strengthened the mayor’s position and raised his annual compensation to a cool $160,000. To this day, many people have no idea that Mayor Stodola makes such a fantastic sum, or that it closely matches the pay for City Manager Bruce Moore.
If your memory reaches back just a few years, recall that the super-slick paid advertising in that earlier election never let on to the degree of fiscal shipwreck that a “yes” vote would trigger. The matter of mayoral compensation was apparently considered to be of so little consequence that the fact was conveniently omitted from the meticulously crafted direct-mail campaign.
In these late summer days of 2011, unwary residents of Little Rock are again receiving beautifully crafted but equally deceptive advertising from the powerful forces that control Little Rock city government. What they dare not tell the children is that our support of this ambitious program will, over 10 years, yield around $500 million—half a billion dollars!
It is little wonder that the shrewd promoters of this ambitious scheme would never wish to speak of the vast fast-flowing river of hard-earned money that would be diverted straight to the heart of city hall, much like a syringe filled with heroin feeds the addict’s insatiable cravings. If you only talk about firehouses and streets, people might never get down to the distressing and often-perplexing details of budgets and accountability.
Mark Stodola is a fine man and a good citizen, but have you ever wondered whatever happened to that visionary leadership we were supposed to get after granting this enormous raise? All we have gotten is more of the same.
In fact, one could make a decent case that since the recent move toward a somewhat stronger mayor, things in Little Rock’s city hall have actually gotten worse. The presumed dynamic leader has become a servant of the status quo.
This pending sales-tax increase exposes a serious weakness in local government. If we consider the part of the program that would provide a research park, several urgent questions immediately arise. There will be an initial objection from anti-government types wondering if city hall should be involved in economic development at all. To be honest, it is a legitimate question.
The governor has a “quick closing fund,” and the state uses several agencies to promote business expansion. Whether or not one philosophically agrees with this kind of thing, there are diverse interests watching such operations, and they are likely to catch up with any serious missteps. That kind of scrutiny is less possible inside the comfortable cocoon of local government.
A good many residents of Little Rock are wondering about this whole job creation idea. It sounds good, but who gets the new taxpayer-subsidized jobs? The suspicion is that most of those hired by private businesses would reside in one of our many neighboring communities.
Additionally, the city has not yet come to grips with the question of whether people who live in some other town should be hired by the municipal government. The sales tax hits the poor, who rightly wonder why they should pay for people from someplace else to get any benefits.
If there is a need for economic stimulus, it should be promoted on a wider basis. This situation is a bit like when we were discussing the possibility of building an arena, a notion that evolved through several incarnations before voters finally approved a countywide structure.
On September 13, voters will confront two specific ballot questions. One involves a permanent five-eighths of a penny sales tax for city operations. This is for fire and police and the regular functions of city government. It looks good on the surface.
What the big boys do not want you to know is that it goes on forever and raises $31 million every year. Our somewhat strong mayor says he is feeling only about $8 million of pressure on the yearly budget, so you do the math.
The second measure is a seemingly harmless proposal for a 10-year, threeeighths-cent sales-tax increase for capital projects. The special interests have placed the economic development slush fund smack in the middle of this otherwise meritorious concept. If you want your street paved, you have to vote for corporate welfare.
The people who control city government are counting on you not to care, or to be confused by the ballot measures. The correct response is to vote “no” twice on September 13.
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Freelance columnist Pat Lynch has been a radio broadcaster in Central Arkansas for more than 20 years.
Editorial, Pages 11 on 08/29/2011