Stephens: Government actions create economic uncertainty

At the 145th annual meeting of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, Stephens Inc. CEO Warren Stephens said he still believes that streamlining city and county governments in central Arkansas makes financial sense and he touted a business tax credit at the state level to promote economic development.

Speaking to the same group in 2002, Stephens suggested that a collaboration among central Arkansas cities and Pulaski County to provide citizen services, such as police, fire or sanitation, could save significant sums of money for taxpayers and improve efficiencies.

Today (Dec. 15), he noted that administrative costs in Pulaski County government combined with city personnel in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle, Sherwood and Jacksonville total about $155 million, noted this report from Talk Business.

Stephens said that any percentage of savings would be beneficial to the region and promote more citizen confidence if tax increases or new initiatives were proposed.

"You think $15 million wouldn’t go a long ways towards doing whatever?  That’s an annual savings," Stephens told Talk Business following his talk.

He said governments wouldn’t have to be combined to achieve his vision — they could work in unison similar to other collaborative efforts.

"If you want to keep your form of government, you can have it, but let’s have a combined police and fire department, let’s have a combined sanitation department. You don’t have to merge the cities, you can just do it through a partnership like Central Arkansas Water."

Stephens also proposed a state tax deduction for businesses that give money for economic development efforts.

"I think it makes sense. If you’re putting money into an area like the chamber that focuses on economic development, it’s a way to probably get more people to give and give more money than they would otherwise."
 
Stephens said he didn’t have specifics on the proposal, which he claimed other states have done, but he suggested that the state legislature could consider the matter in the upcoming January session.

Speaking to larger economic issues, Stephens said "uncertainty" is an "accurate assessment" of the national business climate. He blamed excessive federal government activity for the morass and said "economic activity will continue to be slower" in the near-term.

"Their actions make everyone worry, ‘What will they do next?’" Stephens said. "I think we face a lot of headwinds in the United States… I don’t know if either party will have the political will to tackle what needs to be tackled."