By HILLREY ADAMS | Mayor of Mountain Home
Last year, I had to tell a developer that Mountain Home could not help bring a major retail project to our city. The developer was considering an investment of roughly $15 million. The project would have meant new places to shop, new jobs and revenue to help pay for the services our residents count on.
The developer asked whether the city could use a portion of the new tax revenue the project would generate to help cover the cost of roads, water and sewer service needed to make it happen. I had to say no. Arkansas law did not give us that option. The developer turned to West Plains, Missouri, where a different set of tools was available.
That was a hard conversation to have as mayor. My job is to look out for Mountain Home, and I believe our community could have made a strong case for that investment. We never got the chance to put a proposal on the table.
Mountain Home’s experience is especially visible because we are close to a state line. But this is an Arkansas issue, not just a border-town issue. A community in the Delta may be trying to attract a grocery store. A city in central Arkansas may need to turn an underused property into housing. A town in the River Valley may have a promising site that needs infrastructure before a business can build there. The needs differ, but local leaders face the same question: Do we have the tools to make a good project possible?
Issue 3 would give the General Assembly authority to create economic development programs, including districts that communities could use to support qualifying projects. Lawmakers would still have to write the rules. Local officials would still have to decide whether a particular project makes sense for their community.
That distinction matters. I am not asking voters to approve every proposed development or to give anyone a blank check. Public officials should be able to explain what a project will cost, what it is expected to deliver and why the community’s investment is justified. Residents deserve that accountability.
I am asking voters to let Arkansas communities have the conversation. Today, a mayor can do the homework, hear from residents and find a project that looks worthwhile, yet still be unable to consider a tool available to competing communities elsewhere.
No amendment can guarantee that a grocery store will open, a housing project will be built or a developer will choose Arkansas. Issue 3 would give our communities a fairer chance to work toward those outcomes. I know what it feels like to lose that chance with a single phone call.
On November 3, I’m voting for Issue 3. I hope Arkansans across the state will join me.