A 5/8-cent sales tax proposed by Go Forward Pine Bluff would spur progress on blight removal, small business creation and new recreation trails and events, a University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff professor said Tuesday.
UAPB professor and development official Ryan Watley spoke to the Pine Bluff Rotary Club about the differences between the Pine Bluff Rising and Go Forward Pine Bluff groups, and how Go Forward’s proposed $52 million campaign would affect the city.
Pine Bluff Rising will hold its second monthly “summit” meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. It hopes to attract 1,000 people.
The Go Forward Pine Bluff task force, comprised of 100 Pine Bluff residents, met for a year to develop a plan to reverse the city’s economic decline. They worked in four committees, or “pillars”: economic development, education, infrastructure and quality of life.
In January Simmons First Foundation Chairman Tommy May presented the results, which included 27 recommendations. The plan would be funded by a 5/8-cent sales tax that is supposed to generate $32.5 million over seven years. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation called Go Forward Pine Bluff would raise $20 million through grants and donations.
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The Pine Bluff City Council must first approve a special election to be held for residents to vote on the proposed tax. However, some aldermen expressed concern at a recent meeting about how the public funds would be paid out.
Under the current plan, the Go Forward non-profit would be empowered to hire experts to carry out the recommendations of the task force. For projects that require funding from the new sales tax revenue, the non-profit would make specific requests to the city, which could approve or deny the request. Currently, the City Council would not have influence over who is selected to the board of directors of Go Forward, which was a sticking point with several council members.
The council passed a resolution Tuesday to hold at least three community meetings regarding the proposed tax, and to meet with Go Forward Pine Bluff officials to make sure its authority is not over-ridden.
Watley, who served on the economic development committee of the Go Forward Pine Bluff Task Force, is also one of four board members of Pine Bluff Rising, LLC., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation. The others are William Carpenter, Caleb McMahon and Tom Reilley.
A guest editorial column in the Tuesday edition of the Pine Bluff Commercial defined Pine Bluff Rising as “a 501(c)(3) Arkansas not for profit corporation that was formed to transform ideas into action… [and] a grass roots, individual and community-inspired forum for sharing ideas, developing the next generation of leaders, and inspiring action.”
A cross-section of roughly 100 people from Pine Bluff’s civic, business, religious and volunteer communities attended the group’s first monthly “summit” meeting in January, during which more than a dozen major announcements were made, including the purchase by Pine Bluff Rising of the Hotel Pines. It hopes to attract more than 1,000 people to its second summit meeting tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. at the Convention Center.
Asked by a Rotarian how residents could get involved, Watley suggested contacting their aldermen to voice support of the plan.
“Tell them how you feel,” Watley said. “First things first, the focus is getting [the 5/8 cent sales tax] on ballot. Second, Support Pine Bluff Rising.”
Watley described Pine Bluff Rising as an entity designed to assist and carry out the goals outlined by the Go Forward Pine Bluff Task Force.
He touted several aspects of the Go Forward plan, including blight removal and recreation trails. Removing blighted properties necessary to attract investors interested in bringing businesses to Pine Bluff, he said.
“[People] will not invest where you have to first clean the property up and then build the structure,” Watley said. “So that investment is critical in terms of building infrastructure.”
Walking and biking trails are particularly important to UAPB and Southeast Arkansas College to attract and retain students, he said, as both institutions try to increase their enrollments.
“When you can showcase what they can do in their free time as far as quality of life, that goes well for entertaining and attracting students,” he said.
UAPB would also like to get more of the city’s standout prep athletes to stay home for college, Watley said. Quality of life is also an important factor for Jefferson Regional Medical Center, which needs to be able to recruit doctors, nurses and other employees.
Finally, he said Pine Bluff Rising is working to assemble an alliance of local construction subcontractors. If the sales tax passes, there will be tens of millions of dollars in construction and demolition projects to perform.
“We want those dollars to remain in Pine Bluff as much as possible,” Watley said. “This alliance, anyone that has a trade… we want to prepare them with any certification or licenses of insurance they need… to be able to bid on these jobs.”
Such efforts are also intended to instill confidence in the community that residents will get back more than the money they lose in sales tax, he said.
“Hey, if I have to spend 15, 20 dollars on tax a month per household, I can make $2,500 in return, if I prepare now for what’s to come,” he said.