Little Rock city directors are scheduled to tackle several significant items during a board meeting Tuesday, including a measure setting a July tax-increase election, a long-awaited ordinance meant to tamp down on disruptive traffic and a government-relations contract with a Washington-based firm.
If approved, twin measures on the 1 percentage-point sales-tax increase proposed by Mayor Frank Scott Jr. for the second year in a row will set the stage for a summer election and state the uses of the new revenue, estimated at $53 million annually.
One is an ordinance calling for the July 13 special election. The other is a resolution stating the general categories of spending from the estimated $530 million resulting from the tax increase over the next decade.
Parks and recreation, golf and fitness encompass the largest share of proposed spending laid out in the resolution with 34%, followed by public safety and infrastructure with 12% each and the Little Rock Zoo with 9%.
Specific projects laid out in Scott's "Rebuild the Rock" proposal include an indoor fitness center, enhancements to War Memorial and Hindman parks, a new giraffe exhibit at the zoo and a new fire station in west Little Rock.
Voters will be asked for their up-or-down approval of the 1 percentage-point tax increase.
Because city officials will let a separate three-eighths-cent sales-tax for capital improvements expire at the end of December, if voters approve Scott's tax increase, the city sales-tax rate will reflect a net increase of five-eighths of a cent starting in 2022.
The overall sales-tax rate in Little Rock would rise to 9.625% when accounting for state and county taxes. Unlike the expiring three-eighths-cent tax, which is scheduled to sunset after 10 years, Scott's proposed increase would be permanent.
The mayor raised the tax increase during last year's State of the City address but dropped it because of the emerging covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Scott has said the tax increase would allow the city to make transformative investments while also putting the local sales-tax rate on par with other cities in the region.
City directors will also be asked to approve an ordinance on caravanning and other disruptive driving.
The directors were not provided a final version of the proposed ordinance at their April 13 meeting, and it is unclear what it will look like.
City Attorney Tom Carpenter and City Manager Bruce Moore did not immediately respond Friday when asked via email for a copy of the ordinance that will come before board members Tuesday.
Drafts of the proposed caravanning ordinance obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via a public-records request last month would assign a $1,000 fine for a first conviction. The fine would double for each subsequent offense.
The draft measure also would allow the city to enforce the ordinance on property belonging to a private business when the owner has obtained a Vehicular Trespass Permit from the city and has posted signage that says access is prohibited outside business hours.
Caravanning and street racing have been the subject of repeated conversations among members of the Board of Directors, including a lengthy discussion with Police Chief Keith Humphrey earlier this month in which city directors expressed frustration and suggested officials take more vigorous action to address the problem.
Since last year, Scott has issued two executive orders to address caravanning and drag racing. The latest was a December ordinance he described as a temporary measure while the city attorney prepared a formal ordinance.
Reports of gunshots have been tied to caravanning and racing events.
Directors are also expected to vote Tuesday on a contract with the Peter Damon Group, a Washington public-affairs firm, for federal government relations and consulting services.
The firm would provide services for the city as well as four other local entities: Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, the Little Rock Port Authority, Rock Region Metro and the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority.
A resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into the contract would have Little Rock responsible for paying up to $24,000 for one year of services, with the option to extend the contract three times if all parties agree.
The city and the other entities are expected to share the cost equally, according to the resolution.
The Peter Damon Group was founded by Darren Peters, an Arkansan who has worked for Entergy Corp. as well as the campaigns of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Today, he serves as the firm's managing partner.
Moore recently told city directors that the contract would help Little Rock access federal funding opportunities.