Maumelle debates sales-tax push

Residents review need to fund road, sewers, public safety

Maumelle residents have begun a spirited debate about whether a proposed city tax increase will help relieve traffic congestion and spur economic development, or if the city is taking on too much of a financial burden.

In a March 13 special election, Maumelle voters face three separate votes that could total a 1 percentage point increase in the city's sales tax if all, or a specific combination of the three, are approved.

Proponents of the tax held a town-hall-style meeting to present their case and answer questions from residents Thursday night at First Baptist Church in Maumelle. About 200 residents showed up, with several voicing their reluctance to support the ballot measures.

"Welcome to democracy," journalist Neal Moore, who moderated the meeting, said at the beginning.

Maumelle Vision for the Future, which is promoting the tax election through the Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce, sponsored the meeting. A second is tentatively set for next month.

The meeting was intended to educate voters on the issues and address concerns about whether the city is taking on too much debt, why outside funding isn't available for the projects and why a tax increase is the only option, Marion Scott-Coney, chairman of the Vision for the Future group, said before the meeting began.

"There are a lot of different opinions in this room," Scott-Coney said during her presentation. "All of our options for additional funding have borne no fruit. It's time for us to do something for ourselves."

Andrew Fong, a resident who has expressed concerns about the proposed tax increase on a Facebook page he created, Maumelle-Discuss The Issues, and on the Facebook page Maumelle Residents United, said afterward that the forum "really hasn't changed my mind," but it may have done so for others.

"It sounded like there may be more leaning toward being for the tax than before," Fong said, explaining that his concern was for the overall tax levels assessed in Arkansas. "Adding another 1 percent for Maumellians to pay is a burden, especially since there are a good number of retirees here on fixed incomes."

The special election involves three issues: A one-half percent tax to support a $15.59 million bond issue to pay for a planned interchange to connect Counts Massie Road with Interstate 40; a one-half percent tax for a $2.3 million bond issue to extend sewer service into the city's north end around the Morgan interchange at I-40; and a one-half percent tax to support public safety.

The one-half percent public safety tax would be permanent. Its revenue would primarily be for the city's police and fire departments, but it could be used for other safety issues, including street lighting and repairs of streets and walking trails, according to the ballot measure.

As incentive, the Maumelle City Council approved an ordinance in December to eliminate a $6 monthly community service fee if the tax is approved. The fee charged to each household has long been unpopular and caused collection problems for city government.

The two other ballot issues, what Mayor Mike Watson refers to as the "bond tax," would result in only a new one-half percent sales tax whether one or both pass. The projects are separated on the ballot to give voters a chance to vote on each, he said. The one-half percent tax would expire once the 21-year bond issue is paid off, with all of that tax revenue going directly toward paying the bond debt.

The planned I-40 interchange off a new Counts Massie Road extension has been discussed since the 1990s to add a "third entrance" to Maumelle Boulevard, the city's main thoroughfare. The boulevard, also Arkansas 100, passes through Maumelle and North Little Rock, and has increased its average daily traffic count, based on 2016 figures, to 46,000 vehicles for the city of about 19,000, Watson said Thursday night.

Without state or federal funding to help, or money from North Little Rock, Maumelle will have to pay the interchange's full construction cost. While the election backers acknowledged that the additional pathway in and out of Maumelle won't alleviate all traffic congestion on Maumelle Boulevard, it certainly will help, they said.

"If we don't do something about the traffic, it's only going to get worse," Scott-Coney said. "It's going to get much worse."

Resident David Ray asked Watson why the city hasn't set aside sufficient funds to pay for the interchange during the past two decades it has been discussed, instead of putting an added cost on the backs of residents.

In a case of inconvenient timing with the March election, an increase in sewer charges for Maumelle residents will first appear on February bills as part of a five-year, step-rate increase for North Little Rock Wastewater customers. North Little Rock took over Maumelle's sewer services in 2016.

"Raising taxes should be the last option, not the first," Ray said.

Watson said the city has always had "a very tight budget" that hasn't left room for excess revenue.

Maumelle City Council member Steve Mosley, who was the City Council's only "no" vote on the issue of calling the special election, said outside the meeting that he'd like more assurance that the new interchange will attract commercial developers that will help the city's tax base.

During the town-hall-style meeting, Scott-Coney said 1,000 homes are already platted along the Counts Massie Road extension, which also runs through part of North Little Rock.

"Every time we add a house in Maumelle, it's a drain on our economy," Mosley said.

"I don't know if this is the best proposal there is, but it's one that's on the ballot," Mosley said of the special election. "I want to see something solid that there will be some commercial development there, if we're really going to get a lot of commercial development. We don't need more houses."

The new interchange, and adding sewer availability around the Morgan interchange, is expected to create opportunities for commercial development, Watson and others said during the meeting. That includes "big box" stores that city officials said have looked at the area, but previously passed on it.

Service stations and other stores at or near the new interchange and along the recently completed Counts Massie Road extension are counted on as being an advantage of having a higher tax rate, officials said, on top of making rush hours easier to get through.

"In my mind, it's going to develop like any other interchange in a population center would develop," Watson said to the group. "If you don't want this project, don't vote for it. But don't call me and complain about traffic on the boulevard."

Metro on 01/21/2018

Upcoming Events