There they go again. The unelected Northwest Arkansas Council of Corporations has another idea to make it easier for them to get you to pay for their projects, and they are going to get the legislature to give you the tax goose in January. Front Man Mike Malone says you will enjoy it.
Several years ago, the Corporate Council drafted and had the legislature pass a statute allowing Regional Mobility Authorities, then they got Benton and Washington County to form one, then they offered to let Front Man Mike Malone staff it for free and direct their business from inside the hen house. What they want first is a sales tax to pay $1.4 billion for the Bella Vista By-Pass and other pet projects.
What is slowing down this huge tax increase to fund their wish list is that each county must call for an election and each county must vote to increase your taxes. Under the Corporate Council's new scheme, they would get Front Man Mike Malone and the other corporate lobbyists to persuade the legislature to give them the power to get around those checks and balances. They want their captive Regional Mobility Authority to be able to call an election and do away with separate votes by each county.
This plan allows the Benton County interests to outvote the Washington County citizens and get us to pay for Benton County projects like the Bella Vista By-Pass, even if the majority of Washington County votes against it. It allows them to tax us to fund their Western Beltway, even if our local communities vote against it. It gives them a way around the opposition of certain local officials that are standing in their way.
There's not much you can do to stop this scam, but you should at least know what they're going to do to you.
Fayetteville and Washington County should go ahead and withdraw from the Regional Mobility Authority before this gets out of hand. They have nothing to lose.
ReplyDeleteLioneld Jordan, where are you?
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ReplyDeleteThere's more that can be done. Nothing can be done to stop a Washington County attorney from filing suit against any Act they pass which is in contradiction to constitutionally determined tax districts.
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Don't ask for Jordan, ask for his brain Don Marr. He'll fix regional mobility like he fixed busy businesses on Dickson St.
ReplyDelete@8:36, you make a good point that the NWA Council and the Dickson Street crowd both want someone else to pay for their benefits. Let the Bella Vista bypass be built as a toll road, if they want it, and let the Dickson parking deck be paid with parking fees. Better to let those actually using the public infrastructure contribute to its cost instead of asking the rest of us to pay for their pleasure.
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