Fayetteville voters will decide in November whether to approve more than $10 million in new taxpayer bonds to pay for the Walton Arts Center expansion and start building a regional park in the city, the City Council decided Tuesday night.
The council decided unanimously in a vote of 8-0 to set a special election for Nov. 12, at which point local voters will decide whether to allow 25 years-worth of taxpayer bonds, which includes $6.9 million for the Walton Arts Center’s major expansion at its Fayetteville location. Also included is $3.5 million in new bonds to fund improvements of a Regional Park outfitted with sports facilities.
Tuesday’s vote ends about a year of uncertainty concerning whether the measure would make it to the ballot. City officials have deliberated for the past several months whether the current restaurant and hotel bonds should be extended to help fund the Walton Arts Center expansion and Regional Park. The Fayetteville Advertising and Promotions Commission in May approved sending the bond proposal to the City Council for final approval before heading for a public vote.
The measure, which is an extension of the hotel and restaurant bond issue, would also use $1.5 million in new bonds to refund the current outstanding bonds, according to a city memo. The extension of an already-existing set of bonds means the issue, if passed, will not cost taxpayers extra money, the memo states.
The proposed new regional park at Judge Cummings Road, just off Cato Springs Road, is estimated to eventually cost about $20 million, although Tuesday’s vote was for the public to decide whether to fund just a portion of that amount, which includes the construction of a few baseball fields.
Walton Arts Center officials had originally asked for $8.5 million for the expansion, which they said was sorely needed to advance the center’s service to the community.
The renovation would add nearly 30,000 square feet of space, including an expanded backstage area, lobby and a new entrance on Dickson St.
“When we opened 20 years ago, we were fully equipped and up to date,” the center’s public relations manager Beth Bobbitt told 5NEWS earlier this year. “Our audience attendance has increased significantly, we are basically busting at the seams.”
Bobbitt said the community wants a thriving performance center.
“The arts and entertainment district in Fayetteville is so unique and it’s what makes this area so special. I would just encourage people to support this investment in our community,” she said.
The proposal before the City Council on Tuesday states:
In May, 2013 the Advertising and Promotion Commission passed a resolution requesting the City call a special election to consider an extension of the current HMR Bonds. The payment of bonds would be
extended for 25 years at the same total principal and interest payment amount as currently made annually.
Therefore, the current amounts paid for debt service would remain the same.
To accomplish this, the voters would be asked to approve three questions on the ballot. Question one would request approximately $1,500,000 in new bonds to refund the current outstanding bonds. Question two would
request $6,900,000 in new bonds to fund a portion of an expansion to the Walton Arts Center. The final request
would be to approve $3,500,000 of new bonds to fund certain improvements to the Regional Park. Specifically baseball/softball fields, soccer fields and related facilities at the Regional Park would be partially funded.
It is important to understand this is not a new tax. It would not cost the taxpayer any more money.
