LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Little Rock city officials met Wednesday morning to discuss the sales tax proposal in light of recent updates. The news comes months after the Board of Directors met to approve the addition of the proposal to November's ballot.
In hopes of looking for additional support behind the 1% sales tax increase, officials aim to bring big change to the city by implementing new sports facilities.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. has worked behind the scenes with the proposal he introduced since the summer. He said the overall proposal could cost $115 million dollars for both sports facilities.
"Close to $300 million is going towards the Parks and Recreation used to uplift the entire city, to make certain our youth has something to do," Mayor Scott said
According to Mayor Scott, the plans consist of upgrading the 63 parks within the city such as War Memorial and Hindman Park, plus implementing new multifaceted sports complexes.
Utilizing the four pillars, public safety, parks and recreation, public infrastructure, and the Ports, city officials preached the idea of building onto economic development initiatives in the city.
"How can we make a specialty court and we have telescopic seating, so then you can also set that up for concerts or other venues also, as well as having small conference tables and venues such as that for the space," City of Little Rock Parks Director Leland Couch said.
Detailed renderings of the upgraded facilities included concepts of what officials envision the indoor and outdoor sports facilities to look like.
According to Director Couch, indoor and outdoor facilities will include 10 courts with different layouts for a variety of sports and events such as tournaments, concerts, conferences, and more.
"These are artificial turf fields that are used for a multitude of different sports. So football, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, softball," Director Couch described.
As for the next steps, residents in the Little Rock area hold the final key to determining whether or not this proposal will pass.
If there's a case where the plan isn't approved, Mayor Scott said none of the plans discussed will happen.
"We're grateful for the federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, the Biden Harris administration, that we've been able to do a lot of new things since the last time we pursued the sales tax between 21 and 24," he added. "We gotta continue to focus on our public safety. We gotta focus on our existing Parks and Recreation. We gotta continue to fuel the economic growth that we've seen so far that's been historic, the blue reporting in our development."