Editor,
Once upon a time in a small town, lost in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, there was a sewer plant that was in constant violation of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Equality Standards. In 2006, the good people of that town, Eureka Springs, voted to pass bonds to build a new sewer plant. The new sewer plant came online in 2007 and the complaints from ADEQ ended.
Shortly thereafter in 2008, the worst recession in America began. Eureka Springs, which exists almost entirely on tourism, was greatly affected. In addition to a drop in tourism, the town lost almost 400 residents during this period, a blow from which we are still recovering.
During this time, the bills continued to come in to City Hall. In order to keep the city running, the city administration found it necessary to dip into its reserves. In my opinion, these types of situations are what the reserves are for.
Finally, in 2012, city revenue began to climb and the city managed to gain 4 years of steady growth. Unfortunately, during this economic downtime and the half dozen years before, revenues had not been sufficient to address the many infrastructure demands of an aged city.
The proposed 1% sales tax, which would be disproportionally paid for by our visitors, would go a long way in solving our many water and sewer issues. Of that 1%, ¼ of the collected tax would go to the auditorium and provide a revenue stream for both repairs to the auditorium as well as the formation of an auditorium commission, which would be composed of qualified citizens who would run the facility.
The City Advertising and Promotion Commission would receive none of the tax going to the auditorium. Instead, the CAPC would use the $120,000 they currently spend on upkeep and operations to book more performances at the venue.
By year 3 of the proposed plan, the CAPC would begin the process of building a parking facility near the auditorium to benefit both the venue and the community in general. The CAPC revenue stream would guarantee the parking facility bonds. There would be no other demands on city revenues making way financially for the construction of the much needed parking facility.
So, the choice is yours. Have our water bills go up by 25%, which will only cover the bond indebtedness, and be a permanent increase, or vote for the 1% tax of which almost 80% would be paid by our visitors and is retired after 10 years. We have the opportunity to once and for all deal with issues that we have been talking about since 1972.
James DeVito