By Caleb Taylor

How has the pandemic affected the local economy?

ACRE Scholar and BT����Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl will discuss the latest economic data on Conway and Faulkner County as an invited guest speaker of the Conway Noon Lions Club at the Hole In the Wall Cafe at noon on Tuesday, July 6th.��

In other news, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University awarded Horpedahl an Emergent Ventures grant on��.

According to the��, the mission of Emergent Ventures is��to “jumpstart high-risk, high-reward ideas that advance prosperity, opportunity, and wellbeing.”

In a��, Faculty Director of the Mercatus Center and Emergent Ventures Founder Tyler Cowen said Horpedahl received the grant for his “work on social media to combat misinformation, including (but not only) Covid misinformation.”

According to a��, he was also a co-recipient of another award from the Mercatus Center for the blog��, where he is a weekly contributor.

Horpedahl also outlines how Arkansas can gradually reduce its income tax rate to zero percent in “” in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published��on June 28th.��Horpedahl writes that gradually reducing the rate over three decades would be a “prudent and realistic” way to eliminate the income tax.

By Mavuto Kalulu

Kudos to the Faulkner County Quorum Court, the legislative body of Faulkner County government.

Before the pandemic, on August 21, 2018, it enacted Ordinance 18-16 to enhance the transparency of its public meetings by posting recordings on the county website. This allows citizens to listen or watch what transpired in the quorum court. This has had important implications, especially with the unexpected events of the past year.

were physically present at the last regular quorum court meeting of 2020, held on December 15. Of the 13 Justices of the Peace who make up the court, only two were physically present. The small number was due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic. People are wary of catching or spreading the virus, even for important county business.

Three years ago, this level of participation would have been worrisome, because it would have meant roughly of Faulkner’s adult population (roughly 96,000) witnessed quorum court deliberations. But thanks to the commitment of elected officials to be more transparent with their deliberations and outcomes through the use of web technology, we no longer have to worry about that.

Thus, even though one did not attend the last quorum court meeting of 2020 in person, one can know that the quorum court passed to amend the 2020 operating budget, which was previously established by in December 2019. The amendment passed unanimously, with all 13 Justices of the Peace voting in favor of the amendment. I know this because I watched the video recording of this meeting at my own convenience.

A look at the ordinance itself, which is also published on the Faulkner County website, shows the 12 amendments that were made. For example, a sum of $10,000 was set aside from the County General Fund to the Election Commission for postage ($7,000) and other professional services ($3,000).

Web technology increases residents’ participation, allowing residents to contribute to these important discussions. It also provides oversight for elected officials. Knowing that their deliberations are being scrutinized by residents, elected officials are more likely to act in our interests. This leads to the prudent allocation of resources.

A 2017 “Public Administration Review” research article by Maria Cucciniello, Gregory Porumbescu, and Stephen Grimmelikhuijsen, “” reveals that besides increasing participation, transparency improves financial management and reduces corruption.

The foresight of our elected officials to live stream and record these meetings has allowed residents to stay informed when other counties in the state are lagging behind.

According to an Arkansas Center for Research in Economics transparency report, Faulkner County is one of the nine counties that post recorded videos of court meetings. Overall, Faulkner’s transparency has improved from 2018 to 2020. In 2018, the County published about 37 percent of its important public information online. In 2020, it published almost double that, at 68 percent.

I applaud the progress Faulkner County public officials have made and encourage them to continue improving transparency so we have access to the remaining 32 percent of public information. Faulkner County residents deserve to be informed, and the technology is there to ensure that they do.

By Joyce Ajayi

A popular adage says, “Many hands make light work.”

This means things are done quickly and efficiently when people work together. Transparency is a way to get more hands to lighten the work of making government accountable. Transparent governance creates platforms and initiatives for sharing information freely and openly. Many sets of eyes on government activity exposes both corruption and inefficiency. This benefits all citizens.��

The idea is easy enough. Governments provide a website posting all the requisite financial, administrative, and political information online. The easily accessible website involves residents, in all local government processes and raises civic engagement. In the article “Key determinants of online fiscal transparency: A technology-organization-environment framework.” published in 2019 by the Public Performance and Management Review, authors Chen Gang, Hyewon Kang, and Luis F. Luna-Reyes explain that simple acts like publishing governments’ expenditures on an approved website can improve transparency in governmental operations. This kind of openness in government is also positively related to a citizen’s trust in government. Openness increases public trust.�� However, for openness to happen, it will require a collective effort from residents and public officials.

Faulkner County is a great example of a county making efforts to improve transparency. The Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE)’s annual Online County Web Transparency Index tracks county transparency in Arkansas. That index shows Faulkner County continuing to improve transparency. In the inaugural report published in 2018, Faulkner County scored 0.365 on a scale of 0 to 1. This means that Faulkner County published close to 37 percent of the important public information the ACRE index tracks.�� In the 2019 report, Faulkner County improved by publishing close to 60 percent of this information. Results from the 2020 report also show that Faulkner improved its transparency standing again. Why has Faulkner County continued to make progress in transparency while some other counties are struggling? Some residents, grassroots groups, and Justices of the Peace in the county work in favor of improving transparency and accountability. The county has made laudable progress.

On Friday, October 20 2020, the Quorum Court of Faulkner County passed into law the County Board Transparency Report Ordinance, sponsored by Kris Kendrick, Justice of the Peace (Dist. 9). The ordinance increases transparency by mandating that all county boards publish their reports online. County boards oversee critical services like law enforcement, election-related activities, firefighting, parks, libraries, ambulances, trash pickup, sewers, and water among other things. Counties are important. Providing easy access to information on county processes is good practice for transparency and accountability.

Now, boards like the Election Commission Board, Lake Conway Community Wastewater Utility Board, Public Facilities Board, Library Board, and the Volunteer Fire Department Board will make vital information easily accessible online to residents. Residents can also have easy access to information like board activities, the board’s purpose, the applicable ordinance governing each board, and names, phone numbers, emails, and contact addresses of all board members. This kind of openness in county government makes it easy for residents to know their county officials, direct questions to them, and hold them accountable.

This is not the first time Faulkner County has passed ordinances to improve transparency. In 2018, the Faulkner Quorum court passed, (amended in 2019 by), a law protecting the transparency of public meetings by mandating the quorum court to post recordings of its meetings on the county website. The county also passed, mandating open and transparent bidding and contracting process, and , mandating an open and transparent financial and spending system of county operations. Both laws give residents access to information on how their county government conducts business and spends their tax dollars. These laws were sponsored by Kris Kendrick, Justice of the Peace (District. 9), and the Courts and Public Safety Committee respectively. ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Mavuto Kalulu testified in support of .��

Transparency in itself is not an end; it is the means to the end, which is accountability.�� We commend Faulkner County’s public officials for their conscientious efforts to be more transparent and accessible to residents every year. We also celebrate residents and grassroots groups that raise awareness about transparency issues and help officials become more accountable. More residents should get involved in the process for better governance.

By Caleb Taylor

Arkansas media outlets are taking notice of the big changes in which counties rank highest for online transparency. Faulkner County climbed from 8th most online-transparent county in 2018 to 6th in 2019, while Independence County tumbled all the way from 17th place to 71st.��

These rankings come from the second annual Online Transparency Index from the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics, co-authored by ACRE Policy Analysts Dr. Mavuto Kalulu and Joyce Ajayi, released last month.

Two media outlets covered how their counties’ online transparency rankings changed in the second annual Online Transparency Index from the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics, co-authored by ACRE Policy Analysts Dr. Mavuto Kalulu and Joyce Ajayi, released last month.

Faulkner County��

An article in the Log Cabin Democrat by Jeanette Anderton published on Dec. 27, 2019 entitled “” detailed the improvements Faulkner County made from the 2018 to the 2019 index.��

From the Log Cabin Democrat:

The Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE) at the University of Central Arkansas released its second annual county web transparency report which indicates Faulkner County has improved its transparency.��While the county scored below 0.500 in 2018, it improved to 0.599 in 2019, making it the sixth most transparent county in the state.��Faulkner County was named one of the top 10 most-improved counties in the report – going from 0.365 in 2018 to 0.599 this year.”

Independence County��

In an article in the Oddfellow by Rachael Sowers published on Dec. 20, 2019 entitled “,” analyzed Independence County’s decline in the rankings in 2019.

Sowers reports:

Independence County went from a transparency ranking of 17th in the state in 2018 to 71st in the state in 2019, decreasing from a score of 0.231 down to 0.029 for transparency of important public information online, according to a report published by the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics at the University of Central Arkansas.��The rankings and scores are determined by ‘how much financial, political and administrative information their websites contain.’��Currently, the county’s website gives an error when accessed.”

Transparency in government tends to reduce corruption, improve fiscal responsibility and improve the relationship between government and its residents.

Interested in how your county’s online transparency ranks compared to the rest of the state? You can find out here. To find out what one law that went into effect in 2020 that will make county governments in Arkansas more transparent check out ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Mavuto Kalulu discussing the benefits of in an op-ed “,” published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on December 27, 2019.

For more of our research on transparency, go here.

By Caleb Taylor

How can Faulkner County officials improve transparency?

ACRE Policy Analyst Mavuto Kalulu discussed solutions to this question and steps officials have already taken in an op-ed published in the on April 16.

Kalulu mentioned Faulkner County Circuit Clerk Crystal Taylor (no relation to the author) as an example of an official who has improved transparency in Faulkner County. Taylor began publishing her office’s monthly expenditures online in January.

Kalulu also praised city of Conway officials for launching an Open Checkbook website in May, 2018.

Kalulu said:

All other public offices should follow the good example set by the Circuit Clerk’s Office. A 2018 Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE) assessment of web-transparency titled “Access Arkansas: County-Level Web Transparency” which I co-authored, gave Faulkner a score of 0.48 on a scale of 0 to 1 which is like scoring 48 percent on an exam.��This lack of fiscal transparency is not specific to Faulkner County. Overall there is a deficiency of web fiscal transparency at the county level in Arkansas. In fact with a score of 0.48 Faulkner county ranks 4th in the state behind Washington, Baxter and Pulaski counties. At the time of the publication of our report only 8 counties had their most current budgets online and only 2 counties had their audited financial statements on their websites. Twenty-seven counties had no financial information online. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for residents to see how elected officials plan to spend tax dollars and, perhaps more importantly, how they actually spend the dollars.”

You can read the full op-ed .

Interested in more of our work on transparency? Check out ACRE’s new policy brief, “Let the Sun Shine In: Improving Access to Arkansas Counties’ Financial Information,” which shows what an average Arkansan would experience when attempting to collect county financial information.

More ACRE research on this issue can be found on our Transparency page.

Related Work

• A one page summary infographic of the current state of Fiscal Transparency in Arkansas’s Counties
• Read a recent op-ed on by a former ACRE student worker, Alexandria Tatem, “.”
• See how your county’s web transparency compares to others in our study, Access Arkansas: County-Level Web Transparency