LITTLE ROCK — The Little Rock Board of Directors debated Tuesday whether to give priority to the city’s oldest districts when divvying up an estimated $65 million in expected sales tax revenue dedicated for capital improvement projects.
The board is considering two proposals to divide up those funds, including one plan to identify projects that could be completed in 2012 and a second plan to deal with how to divide the expected sales tax revenue for capital improvement projects during the nine years that follow.
Staff members and several directors said they hope to have some consensus on the amount of funding to be spent in each ward before going into planned ward meetings in March seeking input on capital improvement priorities.
“We’re going to make a dent, but we can’t do everything that needs to get done,” Vice Mayor Dean Kumpuris said. “It is absolutely wrong to go to the people with an unrealistic idea of how much money we can spend. I think it would be beneficial to go into those meetings with a realistic number in mind.”
The revenue for those projects is coming as part of a 1 percent sales tax increase passed by voters in September that brought the city’s total sales tax to 1.5 percent. The city dedicated three-eighths of a percent to be spent on capital improvements and the remaining five-eighths to be spent on operations, including a plan to replace the city’s aging emergency communication radio system.
The first proposal presented Tuesday by City Manager Bruce Moore deals with the 2012 construction season and identifies “shovel-ready” drainage and street resurfacing projects that would spend between $505,000 and $590,000 in each of the city’s seven wards. Moore said the identified projects require minimal engineering and little to no right-of-way acquisitions.
Overall, the plan would spend about $1 million on drainage and about $3.8 million on resurfacing and street repairs. In addition to ward specific projects, the plan also includes $570,000 for contingencies, $50,000 for speed humps and $490,000 for traffic loops throughout the city.
The following projects are included:
Ward 1 — Drainage: 13th and Gaines streets, Allis Street and Wright Avenue. Resurfacing: 12th, Third, 17th and Chester streets.
Ward 2 — Drainage: Windamere and Walpole drives. Resurfacing: Geyer Springs Road and the east half of South University Avenue.
Ward 3 — Drainage: Beechwood Street. Resurfacing: H Street, Pine Street and West Markham Avenue.
Ward 4 — Drainage: Summerdale Lane and Hinson Road. Resurfacing: Hinson Road and Rodney Parham Road.
Ward 5 — Drainage: Westchester Drive and Chevaux Court. Resurfacing: Napa Valley Drive and two sections of Chenal Parkway.
Ward 6 — Drainage: Sunnymeade Drive and 44th and Potter streets. Resurfacing: South Shackleford Road, the west half of South University Avenue and Marlyn Drive.
Ward 7 — Drainage: Chicot Road and Angel Court. Resurfacing: Vimy Ridge Road, Mabelvale Pike, Sardis Road and Otter Creek Parkway.
The second plan, suggested by Kumpuris, tackles what happens in the nine following years, breaking down the construction into three threeyear cycles.
The plan suggests that 10 percent of the tax revenue be dedicated to the four wards with the oldest infrastructure — wards 1, 2, 6 and 7 — which would encompass most of the city south of Interstate 630, stretching through downtown to the city’s eastern limits.
That 10 percent, or $6.5 million, would be split evenly among the four wards and then divided into three construction cycles, so that those wards would receive $508,000 in funding for the first cycle, $540,000 for the second cycle and $588,000 for the third cycle.
The rest of the $59 million would be divided evenly between the seven wards, with each receiving about $2.6 million during the first construction cycle, about $2.8 million in the second cycle and about $3 million during the third cycle.
“If we wait on those immediate projects, we will miss a large part of the 2012 construction season,” said Mayor Mark Stodola. These plans “clearly set out what we have to spend, instead of having to come back each cycle to defend what we are spending in each ward.”
Ward 3 Director Stacy Hurst said her ward also has several aging streets that need to be addressed and asked for time to weigh the plans against the list of outstanding projects and citizen complaints lodged at City Hall.
Both plans are slated for further discussion at Tuesday’s Board of Directors meeting.
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/01/2012