A recent radio interview with the CEO of Go Forward Pine Bluff and a radio advertisement in favor of its proposed tax measures claim that 1 penny ($0.01) of every $10 will go toward the public-private tax initiative's comprehensive plan.
The claim has sparked a debate over the math that is used to determine that rate after the Pine Bluff City Council passed ordinances for five-eighths of 1% (0.625%) general-purpose and three-eighths of 1% (0.375%) sales taxes, subject to approval in Tuesday's special citywide election.
"The City Council passed a resolution of intent, and their resolution of intent, as well as the ordinance on the ballot, specifies the council will expend these monies, which is a penny for every $10," Go Forward CEO Ryan Watley claimed on a Pine Bluff radio station. "It's not breaking the bank.
"For every $10 that anyone in the city of Pine Bluff spends -- that means visitors, etc. -- they come into the city and spend some money, it will go toward supporting our fire and police and the redevelopment around Pine Bluff High School, downtown, the Westside Loop area, wherever these funds can be legally spent," Watley added.
But 0.625% plus 0.375% equals 1%, and 1% of a penny is 0.01 of a cent. One hundred pennies equal $1, so 100 times of 0.1 cent equal 1 whole cent and 100 pennies of 0.1 cent equal 10 cents, or a dime.
Therefore, if the measures pass, the stated rate would be equal to 1 cent taxed for every dollar and 1 dime taxed for every $10. Campaign posters paid for by the Committee to Keep Going Forward promote the passage of both measures, with the graphic of a checkbox next to the phrases "Vote for five-eighths [cent]" and "Vote for three-eighths [cent]".
According to a radio advertisement, announced as "paid for by the Committee to Keep Going Forward," the city of Pine Bluff and Go Forward Pine Bluff ask for support of the "five-eighths-of-a-penny sales tax and to add a three-eighths-of-a-penny sales tax to advance our city, police and fire department[s]. This means for every $10 spent, one penny goes toward the comprehensive plan."
On Friday morning, Watley told The Commercial that the math Go Forward used came out to the rate of 1 penny for every $10.
John Fenley, a businessman and vocal opponent of Go Forward, called the claim a literal tactic of double-think from George Orwell's novel "1984." In the tactic, Fenley explained, someone says a lie, speaks it as truth and one who hears it is supposed to hold a truth and a lie at the same time.
"They call it gaslighting now, where they make you think you're crazy," Fenley said. "Are you going to tout the company line or think for yourself?"
Fenley also likened the claim to the short story "The Emperor's New Clothes," in which spectators of the emperor's parade claim they can see new clothes on him but one boy points out that the emperor has no clothes.
"On something as basic math, to confuse people is unconscionable," Fenley said. "If you believe it's 1 penny for every $10, you'll believe anything they say. If they can control city government, they can control anything."
Although not stated in the ordinances, collections on each tax if passed will begin in either January or February, Watley said. According to the three-eighths-cent ballot measure, fire and police officers are to receive annual bonuses of $2,000 each from the three-eighths-cent tax on or before November 2024.
The five-eighths-cent tax, enacted since 2017, will expire Sept. 30, 2024, unless it is renewed.