“The complaints of the privileged are too often confused with the voice of the masses.” John Kenneth Galbraith (d. 2006), Economist
Introduction
On September 10, 2019, “Special Election Day”, “Team Jonesboro” (TJ) #woke, stunned. After a three month, scorched-earth campaign to “raise taxes or Jonesboro is doomed,” the voters – the owners of #JonesboroStrong – had defeated a one-cent sales tax increase intended to be split as follows:
$0.005 to the “needs” of public safety (police/fire/EMS) and; $0.005 to “wants” of nice-to-have “amenities” (aquatics center/etc.)
Despite the constant, incessant drum-beats of “DOOOM!” from TJ then, today the city’s tax coffers overflow with ~$30M in “Reserves” (of which ~$15M in “Excess reserves”) – a guvment pirate’s booty.
(“Team Jonesboro” placard mailed city-wide in 2019, adorned with headstones, in the “cemetery” that was once Jonesboro should the tax increase be voted down – which it was.)
Despite its many advantages two-years ago, of support from the city government and funding, TJ’s defeat only increased its cravings. Now dressed in the “authority” vested in it by the mayoral election in 2020, TJ returned and has revealed its true colors – regardless of the voters, increase taxes. (If you haven’t seen it already, you will by the end of this multi-part series.) A new mayor took his oath of office in January 2021, less than a year into “forever-C19+” America. Within months, his administration increased the tax liabilities of the residents of Jonesboro, the owners of #JonesboroStrong, for “wants” to the tune of $5M: $4M (to match Phase 1 of an 8-phase federal grant of $20M for bike-trails) and, $1M (to match a $1M grant for a park in NE #JonesboroStrong).
On August 30, 2021, the Advertising and Promotions (A&P) Commission for Jonesboro voted to request a tax increase of three-cents, as follows:
$0.02 for a new, never before “prepared food tax”, aka “hamburger tax”, to eat-out, take-out, or delivery of meals, and; $0.01 added to the $0.03 hotel tax, maxing out the category at $0.04 for guests to the city.
Unlike 2019, #JonesboroStrong will not vote this go around. For these tax increases, the Jonesboro City Council will vote in late-September or October 2021.
(NOTE: Only one new city council member took the oath of office in January 2021; the other 11 were in office in 2019 and voted then to spend $Ks for the special election on the TJ one-cent tax increase that #JonesboroStrong defeated.)
What follows is why all must join the effort for “No taxes, No Sports-Complex #JonesboroStrong”
Disclaimer: This is the product of research consolidated in a short time-frame, without the support and resources of:
“pining for more taxes” Jonesboro city government;
the invaluable “Jonesboro Unlimited” (JU), or;
its outside consultant which, from the video of JU’s next five-year plan, wasn’t needed. https://youtu.be/BpjsUMU2aAY. NOTE: The author is 1 of 3 “thumbs-up” to the video.
#JonesboroStrong can thrive in the uncertainties of post-2020 “forever-C19+” America, without Jonesboro screwing the masses, those who value the advantages of living in the capital of NEA, in favor of those fewer TJ-types who “want” – want the rest to pay for it all, all unneeded.
Why again, TJ…why? Answer: Spenders gotta spend. TJ is comprised of many residents of Jonesboro but, for the most part, it was funded by the wealthier. In 2019, it officially stood-up to recreate Jonesboro in the image of Northwest (NWA), Central, and, today, even SEA (for bike-trails), and the four larger cities of Little Rock, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, and Springdale. To better understand why #JonesboroStrong is “different”, (even “peculiar”, per one bumper-sticker) first, we must understand the terrain.
Geographically, unlike the rest of the regions Jonesboro seeks to copy, Jonesboro is subject to periodic tornadoes (1968, 1973, 1997, 2020) and it sits on the New Madrid earthquake fault. Needless to say, #JonesboroStrong suffers a risk premium that, as “Murphy’s Law” promises, “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
Beyond Mother Nature, reviewing the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) draws-out other aspects on how and why Jonesboro is unique:
Here is a birds-eye on MSAs from a regional point-of-view (www.bestplaces.net)
Here’s a tighter look on “The Natural State”, in which NWA and Central MSAs are much more populated and comprise 4 of the 5 most populated cities:
Population (Wikipedia), NOTE: *~2.5 hours drive time
*Jonesboro MSA: 121K (Craighead/Poinsett Counties) plus the Paragould Micropolitan Statistical Area (3 counties): 163K
*LR-NLR-Conway MSA: 738K
*Pine Bluff MSA: 43K
Texarkana MSA: 150K
Fort Smith, AR – OK MSA: 250K
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR – MO MSA: 549K
There’s more to consider and, from our neighboring states’ perspective, the strengths and weaknesses of #JonesboroStrong come into focus. First, The “Show Me” state:
Here, NWA draws from near-by Springfield, MO MSA, as could Jonesboro from Cape Girardeau, MO-IL MSA. (Don’t know why the “Jonesboro MSA” is not displayed.)
(NOTE: One benchmark sports-complex for TJ to compete with is in the “Cape Girardeau, MO-IL MSA”)
Population (Wikipedia), NOTE: *~2.5 hours drive time
*Cape Girardeau, MO-IL MSA: 97K
The “Volunteer State”:
Again, no Jonesboro MSA, i.e., We think “Memphis” but Memphis doesn’t think “Jonesboro”.
Population (Wikipedia), NOTE: *~2.5 hours drive time
*Memphis-Forrest City Combined Statistical Area (CSA) (10 counties in TN-AR-MS) = 1.3M
*Jackson, TN MSA, 115K
Next, one of three states known as the, “If not for (insert state here), Arkansas would be #50″:
The second of three states known as the, “If not for (insert state here), Arkansas would be #50”:
While “Texarkana MSA” isn’t displayed, the Shreveport-Bossier City, LA MSA beefs-up opportunities for SWA.
“Tejas”
More draws to and from SWA:
Lastly, the “We Don’t Smoke Marijuana in Muskogee” state and fifth neighbor, which provides draws to and from NWA and Central.
Conclusions
This overview of MSAs reveals that Jonesboro, the capital of “The Free-Sate of Northeast Arkansas” (coined by Governor Asa Hutchinson in 2020), aka, “The Gem of the Delta”:
is not only a smaller and more isolated MSA – an “island oasis” – than the other regions and the other cities in-state and bordering Arkansas;
is not in proximity to any MSAs that do not also have larger and more robust MSAs in which to “play”;
TJ, we know y’all are people people and want what’s best for our town and those who visit. Do you still think taxing more from a much smaller base, including 100% of #JonesboroStrong is best in post-2020, “forever-C19+” Jonesboro? If so, perhaps the next article in this series will shed more light.
Action
Write one email addressed to councilcomments@jonesboro.org, aldermen@jonesboro.org, bcampbell@jonesboro.org to reach the city council and the mayor’s communications officer , or contact each, as listed below. To contact Mayor Harold Copenhaver and his executive team separately via Mr. Bill Campbell, call and/or text 870-919-7042 (c), 870-336-7164 (o), bcampbell@jonesboro.org.
Other examples of Sport-Complexes Presented at the A&P Commission Meeting, Aug 17, 2021
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