The Little Rock Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote next week on the city’s 2025 property tax rate and the creation of the Breckenridge Village entertainment district.
If approved, the city would levy a total of $15.1 million in property taxes, the same as the current tax rate, according to the resolution passed last October.
This total does not include plants that serve the Little Rock School District or Pulaski County. Currently, Little Rock’s total millage is 70 mills.
The full agenda for next week’s meeting, which the Board approved at today’s agenda-setting meeting, can be found here.
The Breckenridge Village Entertainment District, which includes the entire Breckenridge Village property, will be open for alcohol consumption from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, until the end of the year.
Breckenridge Village is in the midst of extensive renovations after the shopping center was damaged by an EF-3 tornado that struck parts of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, and Sherwood on March 31, 2023 is.
In 2019, the City Commission approved an ordinance authorizing the creation of an entertainment district in Little Rock, a public zone where people can move freely with alcoholic beverages purchased from bars and restaurants within the zone. River Market has become an entertainment district since 2019.
At-Large City Commissioner Joan Adcock moved to have the resolution voted on separately from other items at next week’s meeting.
“Maybe some people will come to talk about it. [resolution] Next week,” Adcock said.
Near the end of today’s meeting, the board discussed when to hold a meeting to discuss the city’s 2025 budget. Such a meeting is unlikely to take place until after the Nov. 5 election.
“Based on competing schedules and our best efforts to achieve 100% participation, we were unable to schedule a City Commission budget workshop for this month.”[s] That was in September and October,” Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said.
Scott said he proposed two dates to city officials and would hold the budget meeting on one of the dates city officials said they could attend.
Both District 5 Director Lance Hines and District 2 Director Ken Richardson were absent from today’s agenda-setting meeting.
On Aug. 1, the city of Little Rock announced that Richardson had not attended a board meeting since May 14 and was hospitalized recovering from a “life-threatening” surgery.
According to an August press release, Richardson is expected to make a full recovery, but it is unclear when he will return to public service.
For more information on the City Board and how it works, check out our cheat sheet.