The Little Rock, Ark., Board of Directors last week delayed a decision on how to allocate funds to infrastructure projects until after a Sept. 11 bond election.
Little Rock voters will decide on extending an existing property tax to support $105 million of general obligation bonds for public works projects.
City manager Bruce Moore asked for postponement of a resolution that would have given each ward an equal share of an estimated $7 million in earned interest from the proposed tax renewal.
“It would be quite some time before we begin to generate interest,” Moore said. “Once we did, then we would be able to come back to the board for direction on those additional projects.”
Several directors said some areas with greater needs should receive a larger share of the funding.
The city plans to allocate $13.5 million of the bond proceeds to projects in each of the seven wards, with $10.5 million devoted to citywide projects.
The infrastructure renewal effort will dedicate 70% of the proceeds to street projects, with 30% allocated to drainage efforts.
The tax, which was first approved in 1958, would be lowered to 3 mills from 3.3 mills and extended for 15 years. If not extended, the tax would expire later this year with the final maturities of $72.8 million of GO bonds issued in 2004.
Little Rock’s GO debt is rated AA by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service.
