QUORUM COURT FACES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TAX VOTE

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Members of the Jefferson County Quorum Court will vote Monday on a request to refer a half-cent sales tax increase to fund economic development to county voters in a special election in December.

During committee meetings last Tuesday, the Finance Committee of the county’s legislative body recommended that the proposed ordinance, crafted by the Committee for Jefferson County’s Future, be approved, along with an accompanying ordinance to place the measure on the ballot.

“This is a democracy and the people of Jefferson County are smart enough to decide if they want economic development,” said Justice of the Peace Dr. Herman Ginger, a member of the committee that voted for the proposal. “It’s the responsibility of the Quorum Court to give the people of Jefferson County the opportunity to say yea or nay.”

The ordinances are being considered for a second time this year by the court. In June, the justices of the peace deadlocked 6-6 on levying the tax, with one member absent. A vote to place the measure on the ballot was approved but had no effect.

“This is not the right time to put this on the ballot,” Justice of the Peace Glen Brown, the only county legislator who spoke against the ordinances, said Friday afternoon. “We’re paying high prices for gasoline, there’s an economic mess and also there’s no structured foundation in this that’s going to benefit Pine Bluff.

“Most of the money is going to go to Redfield and White Hall and it’s going to leave Pine Bluff with grass growing in the streets,” Brown said. “They need to scrap this and everybody sit down at the table and develop a tax that’s good for economic development and good for the city of Pine Bluff, too.”

After declaring the proposed tax increase and public vote “dead in the water” when it failed to win Quorum Court approval in June, County Judge Mike Holcomb agreed to a request to bring it back for a second try, saying he believed county legislators had received a number of calls from constituents asking that they be the ones to decide the fate of the proposal.

“I’ve had calls from people who said, ‘How dare you not let us make the decision,’” Ginger said. “To paraphrase the scripture, first you have to sow before you can reap and the benefits from this are not going to be immediate. This is for our children and grandchildren.

“We can make Pine Bluff and Jefferson County the most desirable place to live in the state but we can only do that by being far-sighted enough to see what needs to be done to insure our future.”

Brown too said he had received calls from his constituents, urging him to oppose placing the proposed tax on the ballot.

“The people can’t be in that courtroom and they elect us to speak for them,” he said. “We are the people’s voice and they’ve decided they don’t want the tax.”

In presentations to groups throughout Jefferson County over the past few months, Lou Ann Nisbett, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County, said 17 other cities and counties now have some type of tax devoted to industrial development, including Mississippi County, where a half-cent sales tax generates $2.5 million annually, and created 1,600 industrial jobs in three years.

“The economic investment proposal is not a pie-in-the-sky offer,” Ginger said. “It’s been proven to work. Mississippi County is a prime example.”

Monticello adopted a permanent one-cent tax increase in 2007, and that produces $1.65 million annually devoted to industrial development, Nisbett said.

“Monticello needed to do what it needed to do but Pine Bluff is not like that,” Brown said. “Pine Bluff is the largest city in Southeast Arkansas and the businesses here that are growing are not putting back into the community. They’re the ones that are greedy.”

If the Quorum Court agrees to put the tax increase on the ballot, it will be considered in a special election on Dec. 9.

“If they were really serious about getting out the vote, this should have been put on the ballot in May, or the upcoming general election in November,” Brown said. “They’re not going to get a true assessment of how voters feel because what you get in most special elections is that people who support something will vote while many of those who oppose something or don’t understand it will stay away from the polls.”

While Finance Committee Chairman Dr. Vannette Johnson refused to allow public comment on the proposed tax during committee meetings last Tuesday, Holcomb has told both sides they will get the opportunity to speak during the public comment section of Monday’s regular Quorum Court meeting.

“There is no agenda item for public comment during committee meetings,” Ginger said. “If the chair allows someone to speak, they can speak only to the chair. They can’t speak to the other members of the committee.”

Among those expected to speak against the tax Monday are Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus Jr., and Maxine Nelson of ACORN, who said last week that “any public funds for economic development should be tied to a living wage and health benefits.”

The Quorum Court meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Quorum Courtroom at the courthouse.