The Downtown Little Rock Partnership’s board of directors has voted unanimously in support of a proposed sales tax increase to benefit Rock Region Metro, Central Arkansas’s public transit agency.
Gabe Holmstrom, executive director of the DLRP, a nonprofit that advocates and assists in planning for downtown growth, said the 0.25 tax increase would “enable Little Rock to modernize our transit system from both a funding and functional standpoint, setting us on a progressive course for future growth.” The board took the vote Wednesday. The increase amounts to a quarter on $100.
The tax would provide a dedicated source of revenue for Rock Region Metro, which is now funded from general revenues in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle, Sherwood and Jacksonville, and allow the agency to be more flexible with its routes, add routes and buses, extend operating hours, add community shuttles and make other improvements.