On Thursday, March 25, LRWDB CEO Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. delivered the 2021 State of the City address. The event, traditionally held before a live audience of one hundred or more people, was virtual this year and entitled Rebuild the Rock: State of the City Virtual Experience. It was streamed to both the city YouTube and Facebook pages and is accessible at LittleRock.gov.
During the address, Mayor Scott proposed the “Rebuild the Rock Penny Tax Initiative,” which would permanently increase the city sales tax from 9 percent to 9.625 percent, raising an estimated $53 million annually.
Scott indicated that some of the funding is intended to go to re-entry programs along with improvements to War Memorial Park and a new senior center, with other projects including a college savings plan for Little Rock Public Schools students and infrastructure investments.
Scott said the first priority in achieving the revitalization plans will be overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Moving past the pandemic, Scott said a key tenet of his vision for a new Little Rock is equity. In his vision, equity must be applied for everyone in jobs, health care, housing and all other facets of life in Little Rock.
Photo credit to Arkansas Money and Politics (AMP)