An effort to call a July 13 special election on Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.'s proposed 1 percentage-point sales-tax increase was scuttled Tuesday after city directors voted to table the decision for at least two months.
The decision likely will set the stage for a fall referendum, provided Scott can secure at least five board votes in that two-month period from city directors who favor holding an election.
That outcome is not guaranteed in light of concerns raised by board members throughout the debate over the tax-increase package.
City Director Kathy Webb of Ward 3 moved to delay action on the ordinance calling for the election until the July 13 board meeting, and board members approved her motion 8-2.
Board members Joan Adcock, Doris Wright, Capi Peck, Ken Richardson, Dean Kumpuris, B.J. Wyrick and Vice Mayor Lance Hines voted along with Webb for the delay.
Antwan Phillips, city director at-large, and Ward 1's Erma Hendrix voted against tabling the proposal.
Acknowledging a shared desire to be bold as they work to make Little Rock a great city, Webb said that the two months "gives us the time to come together and to 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 year during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic.
When combined with the decision to sunset a decade-old three-eighths percent (0.375%) city sales tax used for capital improvements, Scott's proposal would permanently add five-eighths of a percentage point (0.625%) to the city’s sales-tax rate if approved by voters.
If approved during the July 13 special election, as was the mayor's plan, the increase would have gone into effect in January. A 9.625% tax would have been levied on purchases in the city.
An estimated $53 million in new annual revenue would be used over the first 10 years of the tax to build an indoor sports complex, enhance Hindman and War Memorial parks, add exhibits to the Little Rock Zoo, fund early-childhood education ventures and improve infrastructure.
After Tuesday's meeting, Scott said that the decision by the board effectively means the election will have to take place in September.
"The strategy over the next 60 days is the same strategy," Scott said. "We've been making outreach to members of the board this entire year."
Asked if he would make a significant change to the package like instituting a sunset date for the tax increase or a portion of it, Scott said, "We've clearly demonstrated that we're willing to collaborate and coordinate with the members of the board."
He said the package provides more money for public safety and infrastructure than the sales-tax proposal from 10 years ago.
"We've made a ton of tweaks," Scott said. "And so we really just don't know where else is there tweaks to make."
Response to Scott's proposal from most city directors has been unenthusiastic.
He announced last Tuesday a one-week delay of the final vote to call the election along with adjustments to the proposal that shifted more money to categories of public safety and infrastructure and reduced allocations for early-childhood education and the zoo compared with the original package.
Groups such as the Coalition of Little Rock Neighborhoods and the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce recently raised questions about the package that had to do with the city's expected infusion of money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, as well as the lack of a sunset date for the portion of the tax devoted to capital investment, among other elements of the plan.
On Tuesday, parliamentary sparring started soon after board members convened. Webb quickly moved to table the special-election ordinance while Scott tried to proceed with public comment, seemingly against the guidance of City Attorney Tom Carpenter, who serves as parliamentarian during board meetings.
Board members, Scott and Carpenter took potshots at and talked over one another before taking a brief recess. They proceeded with public comment without objections after they returned.
Webb argued in favor of tabling the call for the special election for several reasons, including the forthcoming federal aid, estimated at more than $37 million, and a desire for greater details in the proposal.
Additionally, others have said a continuation of the three-eighths percent sales tax should be part of the conversation, Webb said.
"A pause gives us more time to garner feedback about that specific point, and we've accomplished a lot with that money over the last decade," Webb said.
She said constituents have asked for more details -- she suggested more details would help inform the city about what makes the most sense -- and have asked for more discussion of a sunset date.
"Tonight is not an either-or," Webb said. "We can get to yes, and I think if we do, I think our residents win big."
After the vote to table for two months, Peck, who represents Ward 4, thanked Webb for her comments. She said residents have told her and fellow board members that they want more detail.
"It's not that we don't want an election," Peck said. "We want a crystal-clear issue on the ballot with all of the questions answered so people know what they're voting for."
Hendrix, who was making her first in-person appearance at a board meeting since the start of the pandemic, said she had "never seen as much racial strife on this board as I have witnessed in the past year." Scott is the city's first popularly elected Black mayor, while a majority of the board is white.
Phillips, who has consistently supported the mayor in the effort to push through the tax, seemed frustrated with the decision to table.
"If you're against it, vote no," Phillips told fellow board members. "I don't see why we're delaying it."
During his comments to the board Tuesday, Scott underscored that the vote of the city board was to allow residents to vote, as opposed to the board members. He said the language of the measures before the board mirrored those of 10 years ago, when the three-eighths tax was approved.
He also defended the level of detail and outreach associated with the proposal.
"Every line-item has been detailed, is on the website, has been presented to this board on multiple occasions and every question that this board has asked has been answered. Every one," Scott told board members. "We can take another 60 days. The plan is the plan."
He referred to the "financial realities," noting the end of the three-eighths tax on Dec. 31 and the city administration's decision to cut the budget by close to $20 million over 30 months.
"We are making sure that we are being good fiscal stewards, but we need more investment so we can invest not only in our youth but our entire city," Scott said.