Moving White County Forward Bypassed State Ethics Laws

White County votes on a 1 percent sales tax increase September 13. You may be aware that our Alderman Steve Sterling accused some of the people opposing that tax of lying. What will he have to say about Buck Layne, Reynie Rutledge, and the rest of Moving White County Forward when he learns they have violated state ethics laws?

Moving White County Forward filed their organization papers and pre-election report with the Arkansas Ethics Commission on September 6, the day early voting started on White County's tax increase proposal. In their statement of organization, they list Buck Layne, President of the Searcy Chamber of Commerce, and Reynie Rutledge, President and CEO of First Security Bancorp, as officers. Unfortunately, according to Moving White County Forward's pre-election report, the organization received its first contribution July 13 ($10,000 from the Searcy Regional Economic Development Corp., i.e. the Searcy Chamber of Commerce). Arkansas Code Annotated (ACA) § 606 (a)(1)(A) requires that "a legislative question committee shall file a statement of organization with the Arkansas Ethics Commission within five (5) days of receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess of five hundred dollars ($500)." Moving White County Forward should have filed its statement of organization no later than July 18. Since they did not file until about seven weeks after that, the organization and its officers violated state law, and the law specifies that a "legislative question committee failing to file a statement of organization required by this section shall be subject to a late filing fee not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) for each day the statement remains not filed." Apparently, Buck Layne and Reynie Rutledge owe a hefty fee to the Arkansas Ethics Commission. 

Furthermore, the "Citizens for the Hwy 13 Project - Moving White County Forward Committee" should have filed a financial report for July as specified in ACA §610 (a)(1) "The first financial reports shall be filed no later than fifteen (15) days following the month in which the five hundred dollar ($500) threshold of § 607 is met." With the August 15 deadline for that report long-since passed without it being filed, state law requires this "late financial report shall be subject to a late filing fee not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) for each day the report remains unfiled."

Finally, in addition to the other problems with Moving White County Forward's filings listed elsewhere, the pre-election report they filed should cover the time period from August 1 to September 3 per ACA § 610 (a)(2) "a preelection financial report shall be filed no fewer than seven (7) days prior to any election on the ballot question or legislative question, such statement to have a closing date of ten (10) days prior to the election." However, the report does not provide information on September 1st through 3rd.

Since the Searcy Chamber of Commerce is Moving White County Forward's biggest supporter, the Chamber board of directors, including our Alderman Jim Dixon (a Senior Vice President at Liberty Bank, which gave Moving White County Forward $2,000) and White County Judge Michael Lincoln, ought to be ensuring that Chamber President Buck Layne, Reynie Rutledge, and Moving White County Forward obey Arkansas Ethics laws. White County voters should carefully consider the lengths Moving White County Forward has gone to promote the White County sales tax increase when they vote on it September 13.

White County Sales Tax Increase Special Election

Sneaking up on residents of Searcy Ward 2 (and all of White County) is the special election on September 13, 2011, for the sales tax increase to help fund the Searcy bypass. In fact, early voting began today at the White County Clerk's office in Searcy, AR. The White County Clerk's office hours are 8 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Monday through Friday.

The exact times for early voting are not available on the White County Clerk's Web site, so you may want to call ahead (501-279-6204). Not only is there no information about early voting on the tax available on the White County Web site, the election isn't mentioned there at all.

Supporters of the tax have an online presence, but they have not chosen to share information about the times for voting or the details of the tax proposal. The only copy of the tax ordinace we could find was on BypasstheBypassTax.com, a Web site sponsored by Citizens for Responsible Taxation who oppose the tax. The sales tax increase would be 1 percent on any sales tax eligible purchases in White County for 21 months. If it passes, the money we pay would be distributed to the cities and the county based on population with 87.5 percent of the funds to be spent on road, bridge, and drainage repairs and 12.5 percent to be spent on "economic development," which includes many things and is intended to "stimulate the local economy." You can read the proposal yourself HERE.

Whether you are for or against the Searcy bypass or our White County government increasing our taxes for 21 months, make sure you early vote starting September 6 or vote on election day September 13.

Time Running Out for A&P Tax Refunds

The deadline of January 18, 2011 to submit refunds for A&P taxes paid in Searcy, AR, from July to December 2009 will soon be here. Make sure to visit the City Clerk's A&P tax refund page for details on how to submit and collect your tax refund.