Press release, Mr. Tommy Daniels, Arkansas State Conference President
STATEMENT OPPOSING PINE BLUFF “GO FORWARD” SALES TAX & PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
The Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP and the Pine Bluff NAACP branch vehemently oppose the new and renewal of the sales tax sponsored by Go Forward Pine Bluff and any other proposed legislation that seeks to burden low-income taxpayers and undermine fair/transparent government unfairly.
Go Forward Pine Bluff is asking to renew a five-eight cent sales tax for another seven years and add another three-eight cent sales tax into perpetuity. These taxes are purported to support economic development and public safety, respectively. However, according to past practices, they will be earmarked to GFPB Inc., a private special interest group. The Simmons Foundation created the Go Forward initiative. They promoted the original five-eight cent tax in a special election designed to suppress African American voter turnout, i.e., they paid for a special election in the summer of an off-year presidential election cycle in 2016. And they called the city council into a special
call meeting and suspended the rules to do the same thing this year.
The Pine Bluff Branch of the NAACP unanimously voted to oppose the imposition of the new “Go Forward” tax, i.e., five-eight cent renewal and new three-eight sales tax. The Pine Bluff Branch opposes the Go Forward initiative because it imposes an unfair economic development tax and represents a failed public-private partnership. Pine Bluff is not the only Arkansas NAACP branch to confront unfair economic development taxes. The NAACP Branch in Arkadelphia is fighting a similar half-cent sales tax.
The NAACP has historically opposed regressive sales taxes because they hit poor people the hardest. Poor people and households lacking financial assets do not benefit equally from economic development tax initiatives. Yet, they bear the burden of the economic development tax on every purchase they make, e.g., food, clothing, shelter, etc.
Modern economic development activities are often implemented through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), which were created to encourage private sector investment in projects and initiatives providing a public good. The intent is to leverage charitable or public-sector funding with private-sector investment.
However, the Arkansas Constitution prohibits the following:
“No county, city, town or other municipal corporation, shall become a stockholder in any
company, association, or corporation; or obtain or appropriate money for, or loan its credit to, any corporation, association, institution or individual.” AR Const art 12 § 5 The city may not donate or directly appropriate funds to a private organization, even one that is charitable or nonprofit, without violating Article 12 Section 5 of the Arkansas
Constitution. That provision prohibits the appropriation of public funds to private
individuals or corporations.
Public-Private Partnerships were not designed to allow private-sector entities to dictate and control public-sector funding or replace duly elected public representation. Likewise, PPPs should not be used to avoid nonprofit or municipal rules, regulations and guidelines, i.e., FOIA, financial reporting, restricted funds, etc. PPPs should be a tool to enhance community building and not replace public oversight, administration or transparency.
One factor a court might examine would be whether the city receives some consideration for its money. In other words, the nonprofit organization should in fact, provide a service that would not exist (or would be less extensive) but for the funds received by the city.
Consequently, we join the Pine Bluff NAACP branch in support of formal investigations into the failed "Go Forward" public-private partnership, including, but not limited to, legislative audit, forensic examination, IRS referral, and federal and/or state criminal investigation (public corruption).
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.