An effort to call a July 13 special election for voters to grant approval of Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s proposed 1 percentage-point sales-tax increase was scuttled during a city board meeting Tuesday after city directors voted to table the package for at least two months.
City Director Kathy Webb of Ward 3 moved to delay action on the ordinance calling for the election until the city board meeting scheduled for July 13, and board members approved her motion by a wide margin.
Acknowledging a shared desire to be bold when working to make Little Rock a great city, Webb said approximately 60 days “gives us the time to come together and move forward together.”
Twin ordinances calling the election and levying the increase had been paired with a resolution setting general spending categories for the new revenue.
Scott’s “Rebuild the Rock” package was announced during his March 25 State of the City virtual broadcast after an earlier move to enact a tax increase was abandoned last spring during the covid-19 pandemic.
When combined with the decision to sunset an existing decade-old three-eighths-cent (0.375) city sales-tax used for capital improvements, Scott’s proposal would permanently add five-eighths of a cent (0.625) to the city’s sales-tax rate if approved by voters.
If approved during the July 13 special election, per the mayor’s plan, the increase would have gone into effect in January 2022. Consumers in the city would pay 9.625% on purchases.