Vice Mayor Wyrick urges pause; Little Rock City board affirms 10% water franchise fees

Vice Mayor Wyrick challenged the City of Little Rock’s long-standing collection of a 10% franchise fee on water and sewer, urging the board not to add tonight’s confirming resolution to the agenda amid pending litigation.

"We were collecting illegal franchise fees from 2008 on till now," Vice Mayor Wyrick said, arguing the city did not provide adequate public notice when higher fees appeared in budget materials and that the change functioned like a tax that affected residents’ utility bills.

City Attorney Mr. Carpenter responded that city records and correspondence from late 2007 documented an intent to implement a 10% franchise fee beginning Jan. 1, 2008, and that state statute requires a franchise to be on the books for 10 days before collection. "What we have done in these two resolutions is note that the way we've been doing it since those dates," he said, and explained the office has filed motions in the litigation and does not believe the city faces an exposure that would prevent the board from confirming the historical practice.

Vice Mayor Wyrick pressed concerns about affordability and process, saying the increase was not obvious to ratepayers and noting she believed thousands of customers were affected by bill-treatment or shutoffs in 2025. The city attorney cautioned that franchise-fee disputes are handled by the Arkansas Public Service Commission and described the typical legal remedies in such challenges.

After discussion the board approved the consent agenda, which included two resolutions confirming a 10% franchise fee to be paid to the City of Little Rock by the Little Rock Water Reclamation Commission and by Central Arkansas Water beginning Jan. 1, 2008. No roll-call vote with individual tallies was recorded in the transcript; the clerk called for ayes and nays and the ayes were announced to have it.

The board also moved forward on other consent items and ordinance readings later in the meeting. The franchise-fee confirmations were included among those approved items.