LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Little Rock Board of Directors tabled Mayor Frank Scott Jr.'s penny sales tax proposal until at least July.
Tuesday's board of director's meeting was specially called to discuss the mayor's penny sales tax proposal. It would have gone to a special election in July if passed. But, City Director Kathy Webb made a motion to table it immediately.
"There are too many questions right now that we need to have answers before we vote on it," Webb said.
She said people in her ward tell her not enough people know about it right now to make an educated vote. They want to see plans on where exactly the revenue from the tax would go.
She said it needs more time.
"[Directors have] been engaged in this, but a lot of citizens have not. I think it's fair to answer those questions because if we put something out there, which I think we should, I think we have a responsibility to put out the best thing possible so it has the best chance to win," Webb said.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. was disappointed to see 8 board members strike it down. He believes people are educated about it.
"We've been discussing this proposal since 2020. We've had a myriad of community task forces since that time and we continue to go neighborhood to neighborhood to share this proposal," he said.
Mayor Scott worries this will stunt Little Rock's growth. The city's capital improvement tax rolls off at the end of December, taking the 9 percent sales tax rate to 8.625 percent.
"Which is the lowest in the state," Mayor Scott said. "As we delay even further, it makes things harder as it relates to the financial constraints of our city."
The proposal will be brought up again on July 13. If city directors pass it then, then it will likely go to a special election in September.