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NWA officials to pitch mobility authority Tuesday, Oct 9, 2007 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau FAYETTEVILLE - Though Northwest Arkansas is drowning in highway needs, a council of area business leaders still will be swimming upstream in efforts to forge a new way for the region to fund at least part of its road needs, officials say. Representatives of the Northwest Arkansas Council plan to begin testing the waters this week in meetings with the Benton and Washington county quorum courts this week to answer questions about forming a Regional Mobility Authority with the power to propose taxes and tolls to provide road funding locally. Council Vice President Scott Van Laningham and Executive Director Mike Malone, both of Fayetteville, will meet with the Benton County Committee of 13 on Tuesday night and the Washington County Quorum Court on Thursday night to describe the process of setting up such a district and field questions. "This will be a strictly informational presentation," Van Laningham said. "We will not be making any specific proposals." They face choppy water, spokesmen for Benton and Washington county governments said. "Their real challenge is going to be this: Why should you, a Washington County voter, approve a tax or toll to build the Bella Vista bypass" in Benton County, said John Gibson, assistant to Washington County Judge Jerry Hunton. "People don't want any new taxes now," Gibson said. "I think they face an uphill battle." Members of the Benton County Quorum Court will have an open mind but they will have questions about a method that no one's ever tried before, said County Judge Gary Black. Getting county voters to approve taxes if an authority is set up and a specific proposal is made also will be a challenge, he said. "After all the time they've spent sitting in their cars while the traffic gets worse - and being unable to get anywhere quickly - is having an effect," Black said. The state Highway and Transportation Department has identified $19 billion in projects statewide that it considers vital in the next 20 years, about $1.9 billion of which are in Benton or Washington counties, department records show. The department has a projected $4 billion available in that time period for those projects. The Legislature this year did not consider a comprehensive highway program. But lawmakers did streamline and simplify the method for setting up regional mobility authorities. These authorities would have not tax-levying authority, Malone emphasized, but would have the power to refer specific highway proposals to voters, including taxes and tolls to pay for them. The authority could be set up by quorum courts, Malone and Van Laningham said. Each of the two courts would have to pass a resolution to set up the authority. After that, cities of the first class - defined in state law as cities of more than 2,500 population who are willing to pay for necessary services, such as police - that are in those counties will be asked to join. However many members the authority had, its board would have to have at least five members. There is no maximum. There are 11 cities of the first class in the two counties. |
