Poll: tax will pass
BRIAN CHILSON
P
CAPITAL PROPOSAL The woes are city policies come home to roost, long time activists Jim Lynch and Kathy Wells say, the proof that growth does not pay for itself, contrary to what the city leadership has said in annexing land without imposing impact fees on new development. What the city is proposing, Lynch said, is a “huge, record-breaking tax increase for the same old, same old … no changes in growth policies.” Wells hit the roof recently at a Downtown Neighborhood Association debate on the tax with Lynch and Stodola when the mayor suggested that the downtown Ward 1 had grown in population. (It turns out he was thinking of certain census tracts within the ward.) There is evidence of some uncertainty across town, in prosperous Ward 5. Susan McFarlin, who heads a Chenal property owners association with the cumbersome name of Gibralter Heights Pointe West Timber Ridge, expressed her view on the tax: “I’m conflicted.” McFarlin said she’d been “covered-up” with pro-tax literature and even had a “door-to-door from a fireman.” She sees a need for new revenues, but says the proposal is poorly timed and “so regressive. It hits the wrong people.” She also sees a need for new jobs, but is skeptical about the economic development portion of the capital tax, calling the $22 million research park the tax would fund “an amorphous thing.” The economic development part of the tax includes the research park, $10 million for purchase and infrastructure of land in the Little Rock Port area and $6 million for job recruitment, also known as the “slush fund” by detractors. For many of those voters who fall into the “never met a tax they didn’t like” category, this is a major stick in the craw. As the “500 Million Tax — Too Much!” ballot committee points out, the way the tax is structured means if you want street repairs and public safety infrastructure, you’ve got to vote for the research park. A rundown on the items the tax would pay for, why the pro-forces say we need them, why the anti-forces say we don’t: CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
were in favor of the operational tax. But conventional wisdom is that the tax will not pass in black precincts, and only 17 percent of those who responded to the poll were African-American; 67 percent were white. And while 70.5 percent of the majority black Ward 1 respondents were in favor of the operational tax and 52.9 percent for the capital tax, only 8.5 percent of the total respondents were from Ward 1. Most of those who responded were from Ward 5, the westernmost zone that includes the wealthy Chenal area, at 30.5 percent; 59 percent of those voters favored the operational tax, and 54 percent the capital tax. To the question “Do you generally approve or disapprove of the job that Little Rock City Government is doing?” 48.2 percent approved, 29 percent disapproved and 27.7 percent didn’t know or had no opinion. Mayor Stodola got a 50 percent approval rating.
olling commissioned by the Arkansas Times last week showed support for the proposed city sales tax hike across the city, with 62 percent indicating they’d vote for the 5/8ths cent operational tax and 55.75 percent favoring the 3/8ths cent capital tax. Most of the 400 respondents, all registered to vote in Little Rock, were Democrats, women and white. A caveat: A hefty two-thirds of respondents said they definitely were going to vote. Turnout won’t match that. More Democrats (73 percent of those who identified themselves as Democrats) than Republicans (43.96 percent) support the operations tax. Among Democratic respondents, the capital tax won 65.9 percent approval; among Republicans, 40.6 percent. Support for the operational tax was broad racially, with 67.6 percent of African American respondents and 64.5 percent of white respondents indicating approval. Forty-eight percent of Hispanics
FOR 55.75%
AGAINST 32.75%
UNDECIDED 11.25%
DEMOCRATS FOR 21.83% AGAINST UNDECIDED 12.18% REPUBLICANS FOR AGAINST UNDECIDED INDEPENDENTS FOR AGAINST UNDECIDED
65.99%
73.10% 17.26% 9.64%
40.66%
43.96%
42.86%
42.86%
16.48%
13.19%
52.22%
57.78%
42.22%
32.22%
5.56%
RESULTS BY WARD
5/8 PROPOSAL For — 64.79% Against — 28.17% Undecided — 7.04% 3/8 PROPOSAL For — 56.34% Against — 33.80% Undecided — 9.86%
FOR 62%
AGAINST 26.75%
UNDECIDED 11.5%
OPERATIONS PROPOSAL
5/8 PROPOSAL For — 66.67% Against — 26.98% Undecided — 6.35% WARD 4 WARD 5
WARD 3
WARD 6
WARD 1 WARD 2
WARD 7
DEMOCRATS FOR AGAINST UNDECIDED REPUBLICANS FOR AGAINST UNDECIDED
INDEPENDENTS FOR AGAINST 10% UNDECIDED 3/8 PROPOSAL For — 65.08% Against — 31.75% Undecided — 3.17%
5/8 PROPOSAL For — 70.59% Against — 17.65% Undecided — 11.76%
3/8 PROPOSAL For — 52.94% Against — 29.41% Undecided — 17.65%
5/8 PROPOSAL For — 59.02% Against — 27.87% Undecided — 13.11%
5/8 PROPOSAL For — 58.33% Against — 25.00% Undecided — 16.67%
5/8 PROPOSAL For — 66.67% Against — 21.21% Undecided — 12.12%
5/8 PROPOSAL For — 48.28% Against — 37.93% Undecided — 13.79%
3/8 PROPOSAL For — 54.10% Against — 33.61% Undecided — 12.30%
3/8 PROPOSAL For — 56.25% Against — 31.25% Undecided — 12.50%
3/8 PROPOSAL For — 54.10% Against — 33.61% Undecided — 12.30%
3/8 PROPOSAL For — 37.93% Against — 41.38% Undecided — 20.69% www.arktimes.com SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 13