PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Most of Pine Bluff voters in Tuesday's special elections have spoken and they're saying no to more taxes.
It's the second time this year that the city voted against a sales tax raise.
People on both sides of the vote said they want what's best for the city, but they have different ideas on how to carry that out.
"We're committed to ensuring that citizens believe in this process because it's needed for the city of Pine Bluff," Go Forward Pine Bluff CEO, Ryan Whatley said.
However, the majority of Pine Bluff voters did not show their support for Go Forward Pine Bluff's proposed tax raise when they voted against it on Tuesday.
Whatley said despite the results, he still feels encouraged to come up with opportunities to get more funding for projects in the city.
"Our goal right now, because there's been so much mistrust throughout the process with some of the mishandling of the funds, misappropriation to really theft, to overcome that and show them that a better process is in place to prevent those things from happening in the future. And that the projects that they asked for can be delivered upon," Whatley explained.
Besides using the tax money for education and various economic projects around the city, Whatley said it would have also supported public safety.
"We have difficult times with response times and certain issues. So all that was needed to address public safety," he added.
Ivan Whitfield, President of the Pine Bluff NAACP chapter said he does not support the tax and thinks there are better ways to improve the city.
“We listened to the people of what they desired to be in their community. And we are in the process of putting together a comprehensive plan that we could bring to the Mayor. We could present it to the council and say this is what the people said,” Whitfield said.
He's already gotten a lot of feedback from the community.
"They want better streets, they want better lighting in their community, they want better drainage in their community, they want to feel safe," he said.
While the future remains unclear for the Go Forward sales tax increase, Whatley plans to clear up any mistrust within the community.
"Using the time that we have, so that however, the city council decides to move forward, trust and miscommunication will not be an issue," Whatley said.
The NAACP hopes to present the ideas they've gathered to the city within the next 30 days.
