The Hoglawyer

I've done the research. County Employees (Place whatever value you want on them) Haven't been given a raise since Dec. 2004.

can't vote on school board in nov cause of the ar constitution and also special election cause the county voted that way. e.g. the quorum court

"Maybe next election - the pro-tax forces should look beyond CJRW and find a more effective PR outfit."

Those pro tax people would benefit from following Fayetteville's example:
In Tue's special election the Fay. hit four of four on new tax proposals. This puts Fayetteville on equal footing with Springdale as the highest sales tax rates in Ark.
http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/44803/

Will Pulaski County wait until a judge rules the jails unfit and mandates a property tax increase? Is that what it will require?

We may be in for a a very ugly Fall legal season. At least one LR City Council member has expressed an interest in suing the County and possibly bankrupting the County to open as many beds as possible. This would leave everyone bloody and maimed.

OK. First point. A majority of the public begrudges the wages paid to government employees so any raise is going to cause ire. Never mind that in many positions the wages run below competitive market wages for those skills. That doesn't matter a 4% raise for employees creates anger without regard to the fact that there had been no recent raises or that the county may have had trouble attracting a good pool of qualified applicants.

Second, it is generally easier to get the public to pass a designated tax because they don't trust the elected officials to use it the way they want. The problem comes when a designated tax is generating a surplus that ends up being used for lower priority projects. Then the public wants to see it diverted to the greater need. Sadly that cannot legally be done but that ends up not being explained or poorly explained.

Third, an issue that raised some hackles was the threat to reduce jail capacity even more if the tax failed. More than one person I know who voted against the tax believed it to be a bluff and called it.

Now Judge Villinies wants to pass the costs onto the cities. Well the cities already pay a big portion of jail costs. Shifting the burden let's the people in unincorporated areas off the hook for financing the jail.

Nasty situation all the way around.

I voted for the tax despite the scare-tactic campaign materials. In this era in which the national republican party has been literally scaring up votes since 9/11, I am quite sensitive to these intelligence-insulting tactics. Thus, when I got several bits of mail which urged me to vote pro-tax to keep my family safe, featuring photos of scared kids and scary-looking fake crooks, I was repulsed.

C'mon, isn't there a better way?

I must have received over a half-dozen 4 color slick mailouts from the vote yes for safer neighborhoods folks. We lined them all up and read every word in them. Not once did the word "tax" appear. How misleading is that? The proposal called for a 25% increase in the county sales tax (from 1% to 1.25%) That's a bit much when many businesses still contribute nothing due to sales tax exemptions passed years ago. If more money is the solution repeal some more exemptions in the next legislative session, the rates are high enough now. We need more taxpaying entities not higher tax rates.