PINE BLUFF -- If the Pine Bluff Library Board can't change the mind of at least one City Council member, city taxpayers will have to pay about $40,000 for a special election to vote on a proposed 3-mill increase to fund a new library.
Supporters of the proposed millage increase want Pine Bluff taxpayers to pay for construction of a new $14 million library in downtown Pine Bluff, but the City Council voted against a request to add the issue to the November ballot at its Aug. 15 meeting.
Backers say the current library, built in 1966, is in poor condition and needs to be replaced. They also say building the library downtown would help economic growth and revitalization of the area.
The 3-mill increase would cost Pine Bluff residents an extra $3.65 per month, or $43.74 annually, based on the average home of $72,900.
The Jefferson County Quorum Court approved a request Aug. 8 that a proposed .25-mill increase be put on the November ballot. That increase would cover improvements to satellite libraries at Altheimer, Redfield, Watson Chapel and White Hall.
Total cost for those improvements would be $1.12 million. Expanding the floor plan at Watson Chapel and expanding parking at the other three locations would be among the improvements, said Taylor Eubank, interim director of the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System.
Pine Bluff City Council members voted 5 to 3 against allowing the proposed 3-mill increase to be put on the November ballot during their latest meeting. State law requires two-thirds approval from the council to place an item on the ballot.
That left supporters of the proposed increase with two options. Either persuade the City Council to call a special meeting and find a way to persuade one council member to change his vote, or ask taxpayers to foot the bill to hold a special election to vote on the proposed increase.
Stuart Soffer, secretary of the Jefferson County Election Commission, said it would cost approximately $40,000 to hold a special election.
Pine Bluff Alderman Steven Mays said he felt "blindsided" by the request to add the proposed millage increase to the November ballot. He said he also believes taxpayers are already overburdened.
"I don't want to burden the citizens with another tax, and I don't want to give citizens the opportunity to vote for it because there are so many other voting items that will be on the November election," Mays said Friday afternoon. "There will be the presidential race and [in Arkansas] there will [be] the casinos and the marijuana issue."
Mayor Debe Hollingsworth said she emphasized to council members at last Monday's meeting the vote was not about whether they supported the proposed millage increase, but more of an administrative duty given to the board.
She said the council's vote against allowing the issue on the November ballot was "very wrong."
"I don't think it is right to deny the citizens the right to vote," Hollingsworth said. "People are going to shake their heads and say, 'What?' It was not their decision to make. It really is not. It was an administrative task."
Soffer said the election commission must have all the required documents in hand by Aug. 30 for an issue to be placed on the November ballot. Since the City Council doesn't meet again this month, that means it would have to call a special meeting to vote again on the issue.
Soffer criticized City Council members for voting against allowing the issue to be placed on the ballot and questioned how members could say they were not aware of the initiative.
"It is the epitome of malfeasance for members of the City Council to say they were not aware of this initiative," he said. "It is absolutely astonishing. The library people held town hall meetings. It was in the newspaper.
"They are more concerned with a feral pig than the education of the young children in Pine Bluff."
Ann Talbot, a longtime member of the library board, said she believes the library is an essential part of the community and that Pine Bluff residents should have the opportunity to vote on it in November.
"A public library is the most democratic institution in the United States," Talbot said. "No matter what class they are, what color they are, everyone is welcome in the library. It is a place of learning, and an anchor in the community. That is why I'm so passionate about the Pine Bluff Library.
"We have to do something about it because it is in such poor shape."
The library's entire first floor, which is dedicated to the children's section, flooded recently. The section was open Tuesday, but fans were still being used in nearby areas to dry the carpet.
Jana Mitchell, the library's director of research, said leaks in the roof over the genealogy section have led to irreplaceable books being damaged and even destroyed.
"We lost lineage books from the Daughters of [the] American Revolution, and you can't get them back," she said.
Even some of the stairs inside the library, built by renowned architect Edward Durell Stone, have been patched with duct tape.
"It's a 50-year-old building, and we've got some 50-year-old problems," Eubank said. "What we need is to get out of the Civic Center and build a new library downtown so we can be part of the rebirth of Pine Bluff."
State Desk on 08/22/2016