‘Forward Fort Smith’ prepping 1% website; opposition forming (Updated)

A volunteer with the “Forward Fort Smith” campaign says by the end of the week a website will go live providing “detailed information” on the funding of Fort Smith Convention Center operations using a proposed 1% prepared food tax.

Jeff Smith said the website, which he estimated will cost more than $5,000 to create, is designed as “more of an information piece than a campaign piece,” and initially will be promoted through social media (think Facebook).

“We’re almost finished with it and are putting the final touches on it as we speak,” Smith said Wednesday morning. “It will come out at some point during the week.”

Updated info: The Forward Fort Smith website is now live. The website also notes that Forward Fort Smith forums will be held Oct. 11 (at the Elm Grove Community Center at Martin Luther King Park) and Oct. 19 (main library, Fort Smith Public Library). Both forums begin at 6 p.m.

TAX HISTORY
A 1% prepared food tax was originally enacted by the board in February as a solution to an annual deficit with Fort Smith Convention Center operations predicted to occur when $1.8 million in annual state turnback money dried up. The state turnback program —which supported expansion or construction of tourism facilities — ended for Fort Smith in June 2010. The center has since operated on a reserve fund. A 1% prepared food tax is estimated to raise about $1.8 million annually.

The board changed direction on the tax after months of public uproar. In a July 28 special meeting, the board unanimously voted to repeal the original food tax ordinance, re-enact the tax, and send the measure to voters in a Nov. 8 special election.

Fort Smith board members have said the tax, if approved Nov. 8, would be brought before voters again in five years to give them a chance to approve of how the effort is being managed.

The Fort Smith Advertising & Promotion Commission unveiled Sept. 12 a detailed 6-year plan on how revenues from a proposed 1% prepared food tax would be spent if voters approve the funding mechanism for the Fort Smith Convention Center.

TAX SUPPORT, OPPOSITION
Website construction was managed by What if Creative owner Lea Taylor, Smith said.

He said the first page of the website will provide the viewer a range of choices with respect to their views on the convention center and the 1% prepared food tax. Essentially, the choices, ranging from 100% against the tax to 100% for the tax, will give the Forward Fort Smith campaign some sense of voter attitudes about the issue.

“The coolest thing about it is that no matter who you are or what your position is, you can go to it and interact with the issue,” Smith said.

Another teaser Smith provided is that the website will include a “source page” that identifies the origin(s) of facts and figures used.

“We want people to be able to immediately see that (source of information). … We feel that the facts are there to support this (1%),” Smith explained.

Not everyone, obviously, agrees on the issue.

Eddie York said Wednesday (Sept. 14) a group is “getting together” to organize a campaign against the tax. York was the de facto leader of Citizens for Responsible which forced the city to withdraw direct enactment of the 1% tax and push it to an election.

“We do have a group of us getting together. And yes, we are going to fight this. … We’ll be raising money and running some advertisements and that sort of thing,” York said. (The City Wire plans a story later in the week that will include more details from York.)

REVENUE CLARITY
Smith also said the website may help resolve questions related to convention center revenue.

When the Fort Smith Advertising & Promotion Commission unveiled its 6-year plan, there was no mention of how the estimated $550,000 in year 1 convention center revenue would be used.

Claude Legris, executive director of the A&P, said center revenue and $950,000 from the estimated $1.8 million in revenue from the 1% tax would cover the cost of basic center operations. The proposed 2012 convention center budget shows expenses — salaries, benefits, utilities, building repair, insurance, etc. — at $1.423 million.

Smith said the website will feature an “internal blog” that will be used by website administrators to respond to frequently asked questions. He said the revenue issue may be one of those items addressed with the internal blog.