Downtown improvement bill stuck in committee, gathering support

There is a full-court press underway around Arkansas to get HB 1060 out of a legislative committee and to the desk of Gov. Mike Beebe.

Sponsored by Rep. Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith, HB 1060 would create an investment tax credit for renovation and development in central business improvement districts in Arkansas. The investment tax credit would be equal to 20% of the first $1 million of qualified rehabilitation or development expenditures incurred for a qualified project. Tax credits would be eligible for new construction and renovation of existing structures that exceed $50,000. The project would also have to meet development criteria established by the governing business improvement district and the Arkansas Department of Heritage.

The bill now sits in the House Revenue & Taxation Committee, and is on the committee’s Tuesday (Mar. 31) agenda. Rep. Frank Glidewell, R-Fort Smith, is vice chairman of the committee and a cosponsor of HB 1060. With the 87th General Assembly set to adjourn April 9, Pennartz and the more than 60 legislative co-sponsors of the bill have just a few days to move the bill through the system.

Officials with the Central Business Improvement District in Fort Smith are actively lobbying for passage of HB 1060, Jayne Hughes, downtown development coordinator for the city of Fort Smith, said Monday.

The district, which includes downtown Fort Smith and portions of Towson Avenue up to Sparks Regional Medical Center, is governed by an autonomous board that has the power to issues bonds, tax and the power of eminent domain.

Hughes said the recent passage of HB 1953 — providing tax credits for rehab of historic structures — will help the district, but HB 1060 would provide even more assistance to downtown Fort Smith development.

“The reason this is so important is that it includes new construction. That would include the riverfront,” Hughes explained.

Susan McIlroy, director of the Ozark Area Chamber of Commerce, forwarded an e-mail alert Monday morning to more than 235 people on the chamber’s contact list.

Greg Nabholz, a Conway-based construction contractor, sent Sunday an e-mail asking for lobbying help to more than 60 chamber, city and trade association officials who are on record supporting HB 1060.

If the bill can get out of committee, it has enough sponsors to pass a House vote. The bill’s potential revenue impact on the state budget — a concern noted by officials with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration — is the only negative the bill faces.