The Benton Courier

Bryant Council discusses A&P tax but takes no action

By Randal Seyler rseyler@bentoncourier.com

The Bryant City Council discussed a citywide Advertising and Promotions tax during a workshop Tuesday but no action was taken.

One of the sticking points the council members had about the proposed A&P tax was how the tax revenue would be split between the A&P Commission and the city Parks and Recreation department.

The A&P tax’s initial proposal was for a 2 percent tax on restaurants and 3 percent on hotels, with 80 percent of generated funds being designated to the Bryant Parks Department.

For the proposal to take effect, it would have to be passed by a public vote from the citizens of Bryant.

The Arkansas State legislature approved a law last year that requires voter approval of certain taxes like an A&P tax. The bill was signed into law by Governor Sarah Sanders on March 6.

“The 80 percent is my concern,” Councilman Rob Roedel said. “If we lock in at 80 percent for parks we’ll have no leeway in the future at all.”

Roedel said if the ordinance was done differently, the A&P Commission could still give the funding to the parks.

Mayor Allen Scott said if the council decided to, the amount

for parks could be set at 0 percent. Deciding what the percentage should be, and how the money should be divided, is the job of the council.

“It is one thing that makes this such a tough decision to make,” Scott said.

“Anything would help,” city finance director Joy Black said. “We’re surrounded by communities that have A&P taxes. When I go out and eat in Benton, I’m funding their parks.”

“My understanding is that Benton started out with using their A&P tax to fund their event center,” said Rhonda Sanders, director of the Greater Bryant Chamber of Commerce. “After that was done, then they could use the funds for other things.”

Sanders said the city needed to have a “big vision” for its future, and the A&P tax discussions were an opportunity to “talk about what we want for the city.”

“I want people to say, ‘Wow! I want that,’” Sanders said.

“We’ve been talking for a while about things we’d like to see,” the mayor said. A skate park and improvements to Bishop Park were among things the council had discussed as projects.

“Something happened in 2003 at the state level, that was when most of these communities passed their A&P taxes,” councilman Jason Brown said.

“We’re 20 years behind, and I haven’t talked to anybody up here who doesn’t think we need don’t need an A&P tax.”

As for vision, Brown said the city needs its own unique idea for the community.

“What’s our Noah’s Ark?” he asked, referring to the

Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. “A guy built Noah’s Ark out in the middle of nowhere and now thousands of people go there to see it.

“We need to get to work and come up with our vision and then we can get people to vote on it.”

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2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://bentoncourier.pressreader.com/article/281492165701066

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