Government Behavior

While You Were Sleeping

The View from the Middle

Government officials will never run short of ideas on how to spend your money.    Who, for example, wouldn’t want a state of the art basketball court at Fayetteville high with the country’s largest jumbotron hanging over mid court?  Who wouldn’t want an Olympic pool to rival Rio for our kids?  Who wouldn’t want to expand our library to the tune of $50 million? 

These are all good and even sexy things to have, but spending the public’s money is all about choices.  What about Fayetteville’s dilapidated infrastructure?  What about the leaking water pipes?  And, with books going more and more digital, is this the best time to expand a library?  Maybe there are a few people who might even object to this expansion, if they knew the full facts of the situation. 

How many of you even knew that there was a special election in August for this $50 million library expansion?  The real answer is – not many of you.  Only about 6,200 of Fayetteville registered voters cast a ballot during this special election and only about 3,600 of those voters were in favor of this increase in taxes.  This compares unfavorably to the 30,000 or so who will be voting in the Presidential election this November.  Why not wait until then and get the opinions of so many more voters?  What was the rush?

Those are great questions.  What was this special election even asking citizens to consider?  This election was about expanding the Fayetteville library.  A noble cause, right?  But how much money is this increased millage going to raise and how much is this increase in taxes going to cost the average Fayettevillian?

If you had taken the time to read the coverage of this special election, you might think that this is going to cost the average citizen $54 per year because the articles referenced the cost per $100,000 of personal property.  However, since the median cost of a home in Fayetteville is over $180,000, the actual cost per household will be more like $100 per year, double the impression given.

The coverage also glossed over the long-term cost of this millage increase.  Even after the temporary increase (seven years by my estimation) from one mill to almost four mills, personal property taxes will move up to 2.5 mills forever.  In the past we have had a one-mill tax to support the library.  Why does it need to be almost tripled in the future?  Was one mill right?  Is 2.5 mills right?  Who knows, and that’s why we should have had a vigorous discussion over this new tax, and that is exactly what was avoided.

The library used Amendment 30 of the Arkansas constitution to push their personal agenda.  Amendment 30 was ratified in 1940, when Fayetteville’s population was just over 8,000 people.  This amendment requires a petition to be signed by only 100 people, which in 1940 was probably a significant number.  Today, however, Fayetteville’s population is over 80,000.  I’m confident that I could get 100 people to sign a petition to have the entire city burned to the ground so Fayetteville could get a fresh start.  This 100-petitioner threshold should be adjusted.  Finally, it was the city council that voted to consider this an “emergency” which would require a special election to address it. 

The point is, when the citizens of any city are going to have their taxes significantly increased in the short term and then substantially increase FOREVER, there should be a detailed explanation and debate of the costs and benefits so that each citizen can make up his or her own mind.  The city council spent $27,000 of your money to set up this special election to do the exact opposite.  They chose a time period that would minimize voter turnout so that they could rally their small, fanatical following to grab more of your money and spend it without your support, and in most cases even without your knowledge.

With shenanigans like this going on, is it no wonder that the people in this country don’t trust the government.  People of Fayetteville beware.  Your government has an insatiable appetite to spend your money.  Your city council is drunk with the power to write checks that the citizens of Fayetteville will have to cash.  Demand that your city council review this and all of their decisions in the light of day, and in full view of you the citizens.  If you don’t, you’ll find yourself poorer every year, living in a city with flashy amenities, but with a crumbling foundation.