New Hostage to the $todola Mega Tax Monster!!!

So we have a story in the paper today about how the library board and non-uniformed city employee union has come out in support of the $todola Monster Mega Tax. Well the city employee's decision is very easy to figure..."do it or we (LRCH) will make your life a living hell". Not sure how that works though because most city employees I talk with say their life is already a living hell, do they REALLY think it is going to get any better with more operational funds (they will still be working for the same AXXXXS after it is all done).

But my eye was directed to a comment made by Bobby Roberts of CALS that I found intriguing, which was...

"Although the library doesn’t receive any financial support from the city, Roberts said he hoped Little Rock would help develop new roads and sidewalks near where the Children’s Library is being built adjacent to the city’s War Memorial Park. The city won’t have the money to do its part without revenue from the new sales tax, Roberts said." (my emphasis)

So now the mayor and city hall are holding the library...that would be a CHILDREN'S library, hostage to their excessive request for operating funds and their regional play fund for port expansion, a so-called research park....and a $6 million slush fund for the mayor and the LRCOC to have to dole out to their minions!!!

Have these guys NO SHAME....A CHILDERN'S LIBRARY....REALLY????

VOTE "NO" $todola Monster Mega Tax ON SEPT. 13TH!!!!!

Now about the Math for these new police positions

As was noted in an earlier post LRCH plans on using some of this $31 million that the 5/8ths permanent tax increase (specifically from $5.5 to 6 million) to pay for new positions. As was quoted in that AR Gazette article, that the post cited....

"Part of the $31.6 million would go to the Police Department to fill 40 vacant officer positions, hire 12 new officers and retain 27 officers currently funded by federal grants."

 Here is some of the devil in the details here. In that earlier post we detailed that the financial officer down at the LR police Dept. indicated that the money needed for presently vacant positions is in fact FULLY FUNDED by the present budgets.  Oops, according to the quote then that removes 40 of the positions above, because we do not need to pay higher taxes for these positions because our present tax revenue is paying for these positions....

So this means that we really only plan to pay for 39 to 40 newly funded position. And we are being asked to raise our taxes by $5.5 to $6 million for these 40 new positions. So lets do the math here...

If we take $5.5 million and divide it by 40...we get ~$140K per position...REALLY!!! We are paying $140K/year for a rookie police officer....HUH?????

So lets take their #s at their max of 79...guess what, we are then still paying a rookie cop ~$70 K a year. Now what was that part about a police officer not being payed well????

Looks more like to me....a champagne party with a beer budget (they are coming up a little short...so who do you think they are tapping for the over-charge...YOU AND ME!!!)???

Impact Fees and LRCH..."Were you lying then or are you lying now?"

In case you haven't seen it, Judge Griffen was interviewed by our pro tax increases Arkansas Business. He has a number of salient points that our group have been trying to get city hall to listen to for a long time. Problem, it is like talking to a door or a rock but..."no one is home and no one is listening", one point in particular...

* An about-face on the economic impact of western expansion into the Chenal Valley area. The annexation of sparsely populated land "was supposed to pay for itself" without the imposition of the sort of "impact fees" that many other jurisdictions levy on new development. "Now we're told we need to tax ourselves to pay for the growth," Griffen said. "To ask the question trial lawyers ask: Were you lying then or are you lying now?"

Do not expect any substantive answer to come from the Pro..."$todola Mega Tax increase" crowd.....

You can read more of our positions, expressed in this interview at Arkansas Business at this link...

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=128101.54928.140224&view=all&link=perm

Maybe, (not likely)....we can get them to pay attention here and listen to us now.....

AR Business can't get in the front door, so they try sneaking in the back

Well, I have already made it clear of my amazement at the reformation of the Arkansas Business group into a PRO Big Tax increases organization. My only thing I am wondering is...are they going to now change their positions and become a pro...union, minimum wage, living wage, impact fee organization?? OK, we can all wake up now...never gonna happen.

So, since they were unable to label our organization as nothing more than a bunch of silly anti-tax opponents....they now want to label us as a bunch of know nothing anti-development individuals as seen here

So here is our response to this SILLY article, on the jump....

NOW..about that part where if we do not "triple" our sales tax the police and fire cannot protect us!!!

Another one of those recent stories in The ADG this week covered LR police staffing. In short, it confirms what we have been saying all along...is life wonderful over at the police and fire offices...no...but are they in dire straights...HARDLY, see the report in this article; here are some interesting quotes from the police and fire chiefs... (and it is HIGHLY inappropriate for them to imply they cannot protect us unless we TRIPLE our sales taxes)...

 Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said the department must grow again if it is to achieve the goals the city has set, including reducing the average response time, which is currently 13 minutes.

 When asked what the ideal number of sworn officers would be for the city, Thomas said 569, an 11 percent increase from the 513 currently on the street.

 But Thomas said that number might change.

 “That 569 might not be enough, it might be adequate, it might be too many,” Thomas said. “We just don’t know until we get there and have a chance to operate at that level.”

So we do not really want to commit to what the real # is and be held liable for REAL crime reduction output, AFTER we triple your taxes!!! (author comment) (also...did he just say anything there?????)

The most telling thing to me though was how the crime rates were all over the ball park with these places. Thus, these #s would seem to support my premise that at a certain point of police staffing (and WE have reached those strafing levels), there is no further benefit to increasing police on the streets as far as crime rates are concerned but a whole new public safety policy and methods must be developed!!! This theory is supported here with numbers showing that while over the years the police staffing has changed..... NOTHING else has (in terms of calls, arrest, crime resolution, etc.).   More on the jump from the fire chief..

So LR city hall thinks this is a "great" time for a tax increase...well take a look at these recent headlines!!!

So as I did before I will just show you some of the headlines of recent (within the last week) stories found in the AD Gazette. After you read these, then maybe you will want to ask LR city hall why they think raising our city sales tax 3 fold is still a GOOD idea...

* U.S. consumers catch the blues

 Confidence at 30-year low over job weakness, erratic stocks

 By DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS

*  Business news in brief

 By DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

 LITTLE ROCK -- LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

  “Combined with some of the other indicators we’ve been looking at, including state sales-tax figures, what we’re seeing is a clear slowdown in the pace of expansion, at least since the second quarter of this year.”

 Michael Pakko,

*  Costlier LR-area water on way

 Utility expects to raise rates in ’13, making big users pay more

 By Kristin Netterstrom

*  Duke Energy CEO warns Southern governors of costlier energy

By: ASSOCIATED PRESS

*  Modest raises in 2012, survey says

 By TALI ARBEL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

*  LR area below US average in mean wages, report shows

 By   ArkansasOnline

*  State’s jobless rate edges up to 8.2%

 By Toby Manthey

*  Acxiom slump pinned on fear
     2 say recession dread saps stock
By Toby Manthey

LITTLE ROCK -- LITTLE ROCK — Shares of Little Rock-based Acxiom Corp. started out this week on a sour note, falling Monday to $8.94, the lowest they’ve been since the fall of 2009.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of the Little Rock-based marketing-services company have traded as high as $18.83, but the stock has been on a downward trajectory since March.

*  Early mortgage delinquencies jump

 By DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS

and then there is this......

Growth in GDP only 1% in spring

It falls in revision; consumers glum

By DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew at a meager 1 percent annual pace this spring, slower than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Fewer exports and weaker growth in business stockpiles led the government to lower its growth estimate for the April-June quarter from the initial 1.3 percent rate.

The economy expanded only 0.7 percent in the first six months of the year.

Then there is this one that I thought fit well with the brilliant proposal by LR city hall and the big time economist at Arkansas Business that the residents of LR have their taxes tripled to pay for the development of the jobs for people WHO DO NOT LIVE IN LR....and will not pay those taxes either!!!!

* U.S. firms silent on exported jobs

 Call for numbers grows as companies push for tax breaks

 By JIA LYNN YANG THE WASHINGTON POST

 LITTLE ROCK -- LITTLE ROCK — Some of the country’s best-known multinational corporations closely guard a number they don’t want anyone to know: the breakdown between their jobs in the United States and abroad.

...but hey, if it is good enough for these U.S. multinationals...then it is good enough for LRCH and AR Business!!! 

But in these highly uncertain economic times Little Rock city Hall and the guys over at Arkansas Business (thus the COC) think we should not just raise our taxes to just cover our present shortfall...NAAAA, that is not good enough for them; we need to TRIPLE our taxes for a $500 million ...$todola Mega Tax Monster!

And today's story from KATV......

Survey shows sluggish Midwest, Plains economy

Posted: Sep 01, 2011 5:20 AM Updated: Sep 01, 2011 5:20 AM

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - An economist says an August economic survey in nine Midwest and Plains states suggests slow to no growth in the region, but not a return to recession.
The survey report released Thursday says the Business Conditions Index dropped to 52 in August from 54.1 in July.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the report. He says that despite healthy economic growth tied to agriculture, the region is being harmed by cuts in business, consumer and local governmental spending.
The survey of supply managers and executives uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor. The states are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

And there is....

Gasoline close to record high before Labor Day
APBy CHRIS KAHN - AP Energy Writer | AP – 2 hrs 4 mins ago

LR's non-planning & other cities reforms (not more taxes)

So now we see these articles in the Gazette today that would pretty much confirm our point that LR city hall is essentially letting the LR city center shift westward and has no plan how to deal with it.

The first article was on the front page of today's Gazette, titled:

Parkway signs blur directions

In short, it says that we have a street with 2 names and signs are on the road west of 630, possibly in the wrong place....and the city has no idea of the problem. More important, though, it has points in the story that show how not long ago that WAS the western boundaries of the city.

But Ed Willis, the president of Financial Centre Corp., who had a hand in the development of the commercial district just over 30 years ago, said the city’s stance on the signs is mistaken.

 “I think they got that in the wrong spot,” Willis said. “I don’t think [Chenal Parkway] starts until Autumn Road.”

 Willis said Financial Centre Parkway was named by the people who developed the area in 1980. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that Little Rock extended the developers’ road to Autumn Road.

Sorry, now today we have this story...

Signs down after 20 years in wrong spot
Removal eliminates mix-up for Chenal, Financial Centre
By Spencer  Willems

LITTLE ROCK -- LITTLE ROCK — After more than two decades in the wrong place, two dissonant west Little Rock street signs came down Tuesday.


So, it is a good idea to give an organization a half billion dollars that doesn't even know the right place to put their street signs....REALLY????

Now about that franchise fee shortfall that calls for this "$todola Mega Tax Increase"

An interesting note about my comment in the last post....

THE DEVIL ARE IN THE DETAILS!

We have been told that we now have a POSSIBLE $600,000 shortfall in our franchise fees and so we needed to discuss new revenue sources for the city...that we now know resulted in a proposal to raise our taxes by $500 million over the next ten years.

So we need to generate more revenue in our franchise fees (that are actually NOT regressive in application) and the only answer was to raise our sales tax????

Now comes this interesting message through the grassroots mailing world from Kathy Wells....

more on the jump:

Our response to being labeled "Aginners"

"For" and "Aginner" Politics in Little Rock - response to interview with Kristin Netterstrom of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette

by Mr. Jim Lynch

KRISTIN:

I write this message as a follow up to our conversation of earlier today at Barrow and Kanis Rds.  Somehow our conversation veered to the topic of "aginner" politics and I briefly summarized my viewpoint about the unfairness of this criticism aimed at Little Rock's grassroots groups and their members, including myself.

I have attached a Voices Page "Guest Writer" piece that the ADG published in August, 1999.  I wrote this article after an ADG opinion columnist (at that time) wrote a column in July, 1999, implicitly labeling me as an "aginner."

As said...SURPRISE - the LR Fire Fighters Union is for the tax

Well, this nice union group that represents the fire fighters while negotiating positions and raises with LR city hall has come out in support of the "$todola Mega tax" proposal...what a BIG surprise.

They are now using money given to them through employee union dues to market fliers to send EVERYONE in LR one of those cute cards in the mail stating why we should agree to have our taxes raised. I have looked into how much this cost...and it is A LOT, but then what the heck...once they get this pile of money from our taxes, the doors to future Mega-raises will be thrown wide open!!! Along with those bigger fatter union dues that will pay them back for these fliers (that would be WE will pay them back for these fliers through our increased taxes!!!)...

Their positions appear to be an underhanded implication that it is good for us and we are going to get all these wonderful things as a result: or that if we do not...OUR HOUSES WILL BURN DOWN!!!!

More on the jump...

So...what do other cities do in this case???

Well we have an example of what other AR cities are doing during this downturn in some articles I found in the AR Dem Gazette last week...

Siloam Springs axes 5 city administrators
By BENTON COUNTY DAILY RECORD

SILOAM SPRINGS -- SILOAM SPRINGS — Five mid- to upper-level city administrators have been laid off in a move to save $600,000 annually.

HUUUUM....600K, isn't that just about the same amount as our franchise fee shortfall???

Well here is a novel thought...let's thin out the bloated administrative levels of LR city hall. According to our COC guys we could never say that about LR city hall, even though their administrative salaries are 20% higher than those of most national averages of similar positions. Then there is that little issue of we now pay 2 guys $160K + a year to do the same job we use to pay only one to do. Finally, lets not mention that the top salaries at city hall far exceed those of the top state administrators (guv...etc.), not any excessive cost there...RIGHT????

Then there is this Fayetteville sales tax issue, more on the jump...

So what about this reformed pro taxes...Arkansas Business

So we knew all along who was really going to love this 500 Million Mega $todola city tax increase....the business community. Well big surprise, guess who is going to reap the greatest rewards from all this new construction, new equipment purchases, new property sales...etc., they are!!!

so lets take a look at some of their representative's comments in his recent article in Arkansas business...

first comment-

"Every instinct tells me to oppose raising the city of Little Rock’s sales tax from 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent. The U.S. economy continues to struggle, consumer spending isn’t growing much, the housing market remains sluggish and too many people are still out of work. The timing is simply bad.

But what would be awful is to let a great city slip into mediocrity by continuing to ignore needs, opportunities and public safety shortcomings. I fear that’s where we’re headed if we don’t make a bold move and support this measure on Sept. 13."

Translation....even though everyone else, not just the city, has had to make serious adjustments in their budget...the city should no longer be required to do the same..."they are special"

So because the city has "some" infrastructure needs, lets skip just addressing those for now and go for broke, put ALL the chips on the table and wrap these infrastructure needs around a big ole FAT slush fund for special projects like research parks, LR tax expenditures for outsourcing of our jobs through port development, and then lets just throw in a little $6 million sweetener slush fund with no real defined purpose. Have to have it ALL even though we know times are hard and likely will continue to be HARD for taxpayers!!! Oh yea, and if you do not vote for it...the earth will open up and swallow the city of LR (that has a familiar scare tactic style... oh yea, I remember....it was back during the jail tax. The same people, as found here, told us to vote for it or criminals will be running loose in the streets of LR...well we did not vote for it and see how that worked out, crime is down and PCQC is back in high cotton!)

Read more responses to Mr. Hankins...on the jump...

So the mayor says we MUST have a research park to compete!!!

Another Gazette story a few days back....

Medical test jells for LR startup, Acetaminophen ODs are flagged

 By Michael Lipkin

One of the more interesting quotes I found in this story was this..... (meaning UAMS Bioventures was of little help for them....

"BioVentures patents UAMS discoveries and usually finds entrepreneurs interested in the technology to run the newly formed companies. But Acetaminophen Toxicity Diagnostics was founded by James and by Drs. Dean Roberts and Jack Hinson, both at UAMS.

Acetaminophen Toxicity Diagnostics “is absolutely atypical,” Douglas said. “They haven’t gone outside to raise private money or use consultants. They’ve done it all using their minds and their reputations. It’s a glorified research project.”

The company also has been assisted by the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Commission.

Running the company essentially like an academic laboratory felt natural, James said.

 “We could have tried private investors, but I think people in academics aren’t used to thinking that way,” James said. “We don’t think in terms of a business model.”

Translation...if we go the research park, academically run, (Bioventures) route...we loose ALL control of our business model....

Just something for you to think about when the Mayor ask you to vote for his 22 million $todola MEGA tax increase to build a park with "maybe - futuristic" jobs...that in the end the guys who start them loose ALL control over them....

..you should tell him and Bioventures what these guys told them..."Thanks, but no thanks"...

As said before still working on how to make it possible for you to upload pdfs...

-Otherwise here is the whole story...on the jump...

Further note....check out the economist link referred to in the previous post

LR family budget adjustments vs. LRCH budget BLINDFOLDS!!!

Sorry for not being here for a while...but I am waving signs, taking pictures, uploading files working on anti-tax policy etc...takes up time.

So let's go back a week or so and take a look at a Gazette story titled:

Pulaski County’s hard calls paying off

 By L. Lamor Williams

So, I found some interesting quotes in this article....the first;

"Since 2005, Pulaski County’s policy has been bare-bones spending and it has slowly dug itself out of a hole created by years of overspending based on faulty projections from an unqualified comptroller who was eventually convicted of raiding county coffers for his personal use, said Comptroller Mike Hutchens and Treasurer Debra Buckner."

and then...

“We hit the wall in 2005,” Buckner said. “We laid off 100 deputies and had about $78,000 in the bank at the start of ’05. They cut jail beds, and everybody took a 10 percent pay cut. It was a nightmare.”

A tight rein on spending hasn’t been the county’s only saving grace."

So they had to go back to the drawing board after realizing that there was this simple FACT:

"WHAT WE ARE DOING IS NOT WORKING"

They then retooled and this is what happened;

 “I applaud counties like Pulaski that have done really well managing their money and have been conservative,” he said. “In general, I feel really good about where we stand compared to counties in other states. Part of that is that we’ve had a very responsible state government that hasn’t pushed a lot of unfunded mandates down onto counties.”

“You can look at it this way: If you set aside $2,000 a month to run your household, if you pay off your car, you’re down to an expense of $1,500 and if you get a raise, your $2,000 a month is now $3,500 a month. We paid off some debt and actual medical expenses at the jail [that] were less than expected, we had a lot of vacancies and no raises, so we kind of got a break.”

They should think outside the box "retool" and come up with solutions...instead of the "$todola Mega Tax" standard operating solution of "more is better"

The most interesting quote was this.....

“For 2011, we projected a 14 percent decrease in our sales-tax collection and it’s tracking that we’re going to be dead-on on our projection,” he said.

and this is the BIG point...I told the Mayor & City manager the last 2 budgets...increase sales tax projections were nuts!!!

“The key is to be conservative,” Hutchens said. “To say that the market and economy is volatile right now is an understatement. I’m not taking shots at anybody, but I don’t know how anybody could’ve projected an increase in sales tax based on the indicators we saw.”

Sorry, but I am still trying to figure out haw to make it so you can upload..so read the whole story on the jump....

The "trust deficit" at LR City Hall is much bigger than any "budget deficit" at LR City Hall.

Here are some of the letters to the editor in the Gazette, August 10th, 2011 and a comment from one of our members...Jim Lynch...

CLAYTON:

You asked that I  send along the argument about LR City Hall's "Trust Deficit."

+++++++++++++

Little Rock City Hall has used federal stimulus money to pay the salaries of police and firefighters which they now claim they are unable to keep on the payroll and therefore citizens must vote for a $500 million sales tax increase.

Most such agreements with federal grants compel local governments to clearly state assurances that if they accept federal money to begin a service that the local government promises to continue the service when the federal money runs out.

Why are  hundreds of millions in new sales taxes justified by the continuation of police and fire paid with federal stimulus money?  Did City Hall make a promise it  could not keep to the federal government?

Can City Hall be trusted to keep its word?

City Hall for years told citizens that newly added city territories, annexed because land developers demanded it be done, that such "growth areas would pay their own way" and no new taxes would be needed to serve the new areas.  This policy has proved to be untrue and the promise to citizens has been broken.

Can LR City Hall be trusted to keep its word?

The "trust deficit" at LR City Hall is much bigger than any "budget deficit" at LR City Hall!

And then there are these comments from Little Rock residents and others in the state...on the jump

Surprise!!!! LR Firefighters union supports increasing our taxes

Times posted a story today where the firefighters union came out in support of the tax increase.

Here are just a few of my thoughts I put down as comments.......

They get $8.9 million for staffing and infrastructure....and then there is the numbers of millions they get to insure the safety of their pensions and will likely get in new future fat pay raises negotiated by that wizard negotiator down at city hall that also supports raising our taxes.....etc., etc., etc.

Oh yea...and then there is the part where a significant # of our fire personnel do not live in Little Rock, so hey, it is no sweat off their backs, many of them are not going to have to pay the taxes.

No reason to question the objectivity and legitimacy of this source of support for increasing our taxes...RIIIIIIIGHT!

and then there is this part about the wisdom of such action, on the jump...

Now about those westward Little Rock developments

Again, like the post just below this one, we have another small story in the Gazette about that Little Rock westward development (located at the end of this post). This one is WAAAAAY out at or close to the Cantrell/Chenal intersection. A nice big fat apartment complex. This is a High-Density development that is going have to draw very heavily off the established water system out there (that we paid for...NOT the developer), they also will have that nice big intersection roads that they can use to get their construction equipment to their site (that we paid for and some of the cost to fix the damage their heavy equipment causes)...etc., I think you get the direction I am headed towards.

One good question here is why do we need a bunch of new apartments for people to live in WAY out west...when the census shows the city has only grown by a few thousand people since 2000?????

Get some answers on the jump....

Yea, those developers have to pay for streets etc., waaah...waaah

A recent article in the Arkansas Gazette had a past president of Little Rock’s Home Builders Association complaining about our opposition to LR city hall's tax proposal because the city refuses to reform their policies and institute impact fees for future outward development.

Mr Wingfield's exact quote was...

" But Wingfield, like many developers, oppose special impact fees because they’re already paying for much of the infrastructure. In Little Rock, subdivision developers are responsible for building neighborhood streets, and sometimes commercial developers are responsible for widening roads leading to their properties.

 Wingfield, however, does support City Hall’s sales-tax increase proposal.

Now, lets just fill in some of the blanks that he conveniently left out of the conversation.

Now about Detroit - this study has included Little Rock

As was cited in a couple post earlier, flawed city planning can often be found at the root of the "chronic" problems within a city that holds it back in the view of the nation and world, as described here; 20 "bad" cities. Unfortunately, our city leaders have managed to get Little Rock placed among this group of 20 cities not to consider living in "yet".... found on the jump

Just the facts Good Guv

I posted the comment below in response to one of our newly minted AR Times city hall cheerleaders...

the specific post is found: Here

Comment:

Some of your points are valid Good Gov but not for me......

many of the points individuals are making above are perfectly valid. I and others of our opposition group ARE well informed of the facts and this is one of the reasons members of our group never are able to be appointed to any city commissions, because we will dispute the so-called facts you site. We will rock the boat or stir the waters and that is not allowed inside the walls of city hall, only cheerleaders like yourself are welcome (the go along to get along crowd).

Look Good, no one is disputing your position that many infrastructure needs could use attention. It is also agreed that impact fees will not cover all the cost for items on that list (we have always agreed with that fact). Yet that is NOT the point. What impact fees have been clearly shown to result in is "smart expansion planning". It makes increasing your footprint come at a cost, while NOT preventing municipal expansion. That small expansion fee then makes your governing body keep their eyes on the established city so that many of the infrastructure problems you site do not get out of hand like this city governing body has done.