Efficiency leads to effectiveness
When the petition to call a vote on repealing the City Advertising and Promotion tax was circulated, it was said the initiative’s purpose was to start a conversation. Sadly, much of the ensuing conversation devolved into fearmongering, defensiveness and demonization. Sad because this conversation is needed and overdue in light of decades of CAPC dysfunction and our crumbling infrastructure.
As I understand it, those who circulated the petition believe much CAPC spending over time has been wasteful and ineffective, and they’d rather see more tax money spent on repairing our streets, sidewalks, water and sewer systems, and developing parking, all of which are greatly impacted by the influx of visitors.
With its long-string of overpaid, ineffectual directors (several of whom had their excessive contracts bought out), expensive, “new-and-improved” websites, rotating ad agencies, new generic tag lines (The Extraordinary Escape, Eureka Believer, Something for Everyone, Little Switzerland, The Stairstep Town, The City that Water Built, A Step Back in Time, Free to Be…), poorly placed and ineffective ads, and a history of clueless and sometimes corrupt commissioners, it’s no wonder that long-time residents are frustrated.
Back in the 1990s, the University of Arkansas conducted a tourist survey in Eureka Springs. They found that 90 percent of visitors heard of Eureka Springs through word-of-mouth, that advertising accounted for attracting fewer than 10 percent of those surveyed. Since then, hundreds of thousands more have discovered the city, returned regularly and spread the word. We have a very solid tourist base on which to build.
Yes, Eureka Springs needs to advertise to remind folks of the vacation spot they love and to attract new visitors. But can’t it be done much more efficiently and at a much lower cost? Rather than shipping boatloads of money to out-of-town advertising agencies, the commission could hire a full-time publicist; a social media and advertising savvy person who understands the city and our target markets, including the ever-growing Northwest Arkansas corridor.
Positive visitor experiences that translate to positive word of mouth are at least as important as advertising, so an events coordinator and auditorium director, to ensure those experiences are had, could round out a CAPC employee roster, with them enlisting part-time help as needed.
Streamlining the A&P operation to just a few employees and ditching the advertising agencies would save a bundle, which could be used for infrastructure improvements if allowed by state law.
Until about 20 years ago, the Eureka Springs A&P commission operated under a different state statute than the larger tourist destinations in the state. With the Arkansas legislature meeting in January, why not work with our representatives to enact a new statute to allow our city to use a portion of A&P revenue for tourism-impacted infrastructure? While the legislature can’t pass laws targeting specific cities, it can be written to meet our needs and any other small city with similar issues. To wit: “Any city of the first class with a population of less than 5,000 whose primary industry is tourism…” With such legislation in place, we could have both advertising and infrastructure funding.
The city’s infrastructure is crumbling: the treatment plant is dumping sewage into our waterways; sewer and water lines are leaking all over town; the streets and sidewalks are in abysmal condition; parking is a nightmare. Addressing the myriad issues will require significantly more revenue, likely through grants and bonds, but a reallocation of resources will also be needed. Not addressing the sewage issue could result in the state shutting the city down, and then where will we be?
It’s undeniable that tourism exacerbates our infrastructure problems, so the costs shouldn’t be laid solely at the feet of the city’s 2,000 residents who are already paying exorbitant water bills.
My vote, if I had one (I’m one of those business and property owners who lives outside the city limits), would be to keep the tax, streamline the CAPC and work with the state to allow some of the tax money to be used on infrastructure improvements. If the commission committed to such an approach before the election, I believe the tax would be upheld by a majority of the city’s voters.
Bill King