Benton holds second A&P hearing

On Monday night, the city of Benton held the second of two public hearings to get input from residents on the plan to extend the one and a half cent sales tax for Advertising and Promotion.

It was held at the Benton Event Center.

“We are here to hear from citizens,” Benton Mayor Tom Farmer said.

The tax is currently set to sunset 30 days after the Benton Event Center’s original bond is paid off, which the city expects to be able to do six years early. The original bon was set to expire in 2027.

Farmer told the crowd that there were three takeaways from the previous hearing and two more from discussions with attendees after the meeting.

The takeaways were that people wanted to know more information about the economic impact for the proposed projects, a priority list and they wanted to be allowed a say in the extension.

Speaking with those who stayed after, they wanted to know more about what makes Benton special and they wanted to discuss the original sunset clause for the tax.

Before the public was allowed to speak, the city went over the parks survey and 2040 vision.

The survey, which was taken by 1,435 residents, showed people want more walking and hiking trails, a new water park, tennis and pickleball courts and other amenities in the city.

“A lot of people are flocking to public parks,” said Parks Director

Stephanie Jones.

Dan Beranek and Brett Budolfson, of Mcclelland Consulting Engineers, went over proposed projects the tax extension could fund as part of the city’s 2040 plan.

Farmer said in 2019 between basketball, baseball and softball tournaments, plus special events and more, Parks brought in $2,731,000 of economic impact to the community.

With most of the projects, Farmer cited the economic impact of similar facilities in comparable communities. For some of the projects, he said, the cities he asked did not return a response.

Beranek said one of the things that makes Benton special is the Saline River. One of the proposals is for a river trail, or greenway. It would be a paved multiuse trail along the river. It would include fishing spots and even places to put in kayaks.

“This recreation corridor will rival any in the state,” Beranek said.

It would run from Lyle Park to Sunset Lake, six miles. Farmer said in 2016 the Buffalo River created economic impact for communities of $574,000 per mile. He said this corridor would be a $10 impact to $1 investment.

The Mcclelland representatives also discussed more multi-use trails, a mountain bike park, water park, tennis/pickleball courts, soccer fields and archery range.

The hearing was then opened to the public.

Barbara Elrod was the first to speak.

“I think the way you are going about this is wrong,” she said, telling the city council the residents should be allowed to vote on the extension of the tax.

She also feels not enough information has been put out about the plan.

Brenda Olson wanted to know how much the total cost would be for all the proposed projects. She was told a combined $47.5 million.

She wanted to know how much they would all bring in a year. Farmer told her there is no way to know for sure. All he had was the figures he cited for similar cities and communities.

Damon Helton told the council there should be more dialogue. He also asked how much revenue would the city make if the tax did not exist and people kept that money.

Council Member Jeff Hamm explained not all of the money from this tax comes from those who live in Benton. A large percent comes from those who stop in from other places to eat or stay in a hotel. He pointed out this is not a tax on groceries.

“People from outside pay a majority of this,” Hamm said.

Hamm pointed out if people do not want to pay it, they can choose to eat at home. Helton responded that due to sports and activities, they often are forced to eat out.

Wayne Beech asked about grants. Farmer told him the city is trying to get every grant it can to pay for projects.

Council Member Steve Lee talked about how before the A&P or Quality of Life tax, the only parks were Tyndall Park and Bernard-holland Field, which ball players parents built and sold to the city. Before that, the place where the River Center and Riverside Park are located was just an empty field.

Lee said these proposed things are not for those here today, but for the youth and the future of the city.

Lee added he is for letting the people vote on the extension.

Amanda Sturgill said she loves the ideas and designs.

“I do believe we need to invest in our community,” she said, adding without improvements Benton would become irrelevant while other cities grow.

Jana Helton asked which council members planned to vote in favor of the extension. A few members said they are still gathering feedback before making a decision.

She asked to let the community get more involved with the decision.

Council member Shane Knight told her the proposed projects would required bond measures and all bonds are voted on by the public.

Helton also wanted more to be done to fix up Downtown Benton and make it a tourist destination.

Drennen was unsure if A&P tax funds could be used for downtown improvements. He pointed out something like an event center or Parks he knows can be covered.

Serge Krikorian said while he hates taxes, he is in favor of this tax. He pointed out he as a cater pays A&P taxes in 11 cities.

“This is an amazing vision, I am happy to pay that tax,” he said.

He sees this tax as a great way to get those projects done.

He added these projects will bring jobs to the community.

Pam Armstrong said when she moved to Benton seven years ago, she had to go to Little Rock for everything. She feels the changes are remarkable. She suggested the city do a communications audit to get a better idea of how to get information out to the the entire community.

Several people had complained they did not feel the city did enough to get information out. Farmer said they used billboards, social media and The Saline Courier to put out information.

“I would encourage everyone to read the local paper. It is full of good information,” he said.

Rick Bellinger spoke in favor of the tax.

“This is probably the fairest tax there is,” he said, pointing out those who do not want to pay it do not have to eat out or stay in hotels.

In response to the call to put it on the ballot, Jeff Marrow pointed out it costs $20,000 to $30,000 to put an item on a special ballot.

Farmer said the city will hold the second and third reads in the April and May meetings respectively. The April meeting will be April 26.

Farmer said Parks is looking at projects it can complete on its current budget and with grants. Even with those, there are still many left.

He ended by pointing out there are those who choose not to live in Benton because it does not offer everything they want.

“We want to meet all the needs,” Farmer said.