North Little Rock's sales tax campaign will try to expand its reach into the community today by streaming a meeting on Facebook Live from the William F. Laman Public Library.
Mayor Joe Smith will make a presentation on the proposed 1 percent city sales tax at the main Laman Library, 2801 Orange St., at 6 p.m. today. The meeting will be streamed on the City of North Little Rock-Government page on the Facebook social media site, as is done for City Council meetings.
The sales tax special election is Aug. 8. Early voting starts Tuesday at Laman Library.
The meeting is expected to last a maximum of one hour, city Communications Director Nathan Hamilton said. People watching on the Internet will be able to post questions for the mayor about the tax, and questions from the online audience will alternate with questions from the library audience, Hamilton said.
"We want to be as transparent as we possibly can be and are actually trying to get people involved," Hamilton said about streaming the meeting.
Smith has made more 40 presentations about the proposed tax increase, counting four previous public forums and meetings with neighborhood and business groups.
If North Little Rock voters approve the 1 percent tax, revenue will be divided equally for different purposes. One-half percent will be a permanent tax for city operations. The other half-percent will last for five years to fund improvements to fire stations, the police and courts building, and streets and drainage.
Consumers in North Little Rock pay a total sales tax of 8.5 percent. That includes a 6.5 percent state tax, an existing 1 percent North Little Rock city tax and a 1 percent Pulaski County tax. Collection of the new tax would begin Jan. 1.
If approved, North Little Rock's city sale tax will be higher than several of its neighboring cities. Little Rock has a 1.5 percent city sales tax, while Sherwood and Maumelle each have a 1 percent city sales tax. Jacksonville, also in Pulaski County, has a 2 percent city sales tax.
Metro on 07/27/2017