A one-quarter-percentage-point sales-tax increase is one step closer to being put before voters after Pulaski County justices of the peace agreed Tuesday night to make a final decision on the proposal in two weeks.
Rock Region Metro -- formerly known as Central Arkansas Transit Authority -- is asking to raise the sales tax by one-quarter percentage point to increase its bus fleet, locations of operation and frequency of stops to meet the demands of residents and make riding more convenient.
The plan would increase the frequency of many of the routes across the county including into unincorporated areas, establish more routes that don't have to go through downtown and decrease ride time.
Rock Region Metro was created through an agreement among the county and cities to serve the area.
Annual revenue from the tax is estimated at $18.2 million, which would be enough to more than double the agency's budget. Annual anticipated growth from sales taxes is usually 1 percent to 2 percent, Rock Region Metro Executive Director Jarod Varner said. Ridership would increase, according to estimates from a consultant, 30 percent to 40 percent from 3 million annual riders.
Pulaski County voters have not approved a permanent countywide sales-tax increase in more than three decades. The last one put to a vote was in 2006. The quarter-point sales-tax increase to benefit the county jail didn't pass.
A̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶e̶r̶m̶a̶j̶o̶r̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶i̶c̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶e̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶-̶-̶ ̶1̶0̶ ̶Eight justices of the peace* must approve putting the tax increase before voters. That decision will occur at the Quorum Court's full meeting Nov. 24. On Tuesday, only nine justices of the peace voted to move forward with the tax proposal, which was all that was required at the Quorum Court's committee meeting.
Democrats Tyler Denton, Kathy Lewison, Julie Blackwood, Donna Massey, Teresa Coney and Judy Green of Little Rock voted in favor, along with Democrat Curtis Keith of Mabelvale, Democrat the Rev. Robert Green Sr. of McAlmont and Democrat Staci Medlock of North Little Rock.
Lillie McMullen, D-Little Rock, left the meeting before the vote took place.
Republicans Doug Reed of Roland, Aaron Robinson of Jacksonville, Luke McCoy of Sherwood, Phil Stowers of Maumelle, and Paul Elliott of Maumelle voted against the measure.
Elliott said he would need more information before making a decision on his vote later.
Denton said he favored moving the proposal to a final vote Nov. 24 but was unsure how he would vote then. He said he'd rather see Sheriff Doc Holladay proposing to increase the sales tax to expand the jail, as he sees the jail as the biggest concern for the county.
"I don't think [transit service] is the No. 1 thing," he said.
Most concerns Tuesday night revolved around Rock Region Metro's request to put the tax increase before voters during the March primary election instead of the November general election, when more voters typically turn out. Those concerns were voiced by both Democrats and Republicans.
Stowers said he fully supports letting voters decide how they want to be taxed but said he could not support the election because of its timing.
Lewison and Medlock asked Varner why the agency wasn't proposing a vote during the general election.
"Our feeling is the longer we let this plan linger the more momentum we're going to lose," Varner said, adding that his agency is concerned about losing support for the tax increase.
Justices of the peace also discussed the effect the tax increase would have on lower-income residents.
Stowers said sales taxes generally have a greater effect on lower-income populations and that Democrats and progressive voters tend to oppose them. Stowers called the support of the tax increase by progressive groups and Democratic justices of the peace, an "interesting nuance."
Blackwood argued that the results of the tax increase would end up benefiting lower-income residents economically by increasing their access to jobs and decreasing the amount of time it takes them to get places.
"If poor people can't work, they can't pay taxes," she said.
Massey also argued that many people in her district, which includes downtown Little Rock, don't have cars and need buses to be more convenient than they are now, with more frequent pickups.
"It would help everyone in Pulaski County, especially lower-income residents," she said, adding that some people opposed to the proposal didn't seem to care enough about the lower-income residents.
Robinson, like Stowers, said he opposed the measure because it was not for the general election. Reed said he could not support it because he ran for election on a platform of not raising taxes. McCoy said that he has not known about the proposal for as long as he would have liked to.
The Quorum Court heard three public comments Tuesday night in favor of enhancing public transportation access.
Kathy Wells, president of the Coalition of Greater Little Rock Neighborhoods, said the transportation expansion was greatly needed.
Tim McKuin, a resident, said expanded bus routes would give residents more options when it came to transportation, as opposed to the $600 million project to redesign Interstate 30 through the Little Rock and North Little Rock downtowns, which would be a lot more taxpayer money for no increase in options.
Sharon Giovinazzo, president and CEO of World Services for the Blind on Fair Park Boulevard in Little Rock, told the Quorum Court that many people are dependent on public transit and that considerations for transit for disabled persons -- paratransit -- should be taken into account in transportation enhancements, too.
"It's simple," she said. "Enhanced transportation services will turn tax takers into taxpayers."
Metro on 11/11/2015
*CORRECTION: The Pulaski County Quorum Court needed only eight votes to approve putting a proposal for a quarter-cent sales tax increase for transit improvements before voters in a March 1 special election. Because of incorrect information supplied to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, this article misstated the number of votes needed.