FORT SMITH, Ark. — The Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau will furlough its six employees in order to reach required budget cuts necessitated by loss of income caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CVB, like all city departments, was asked to trim its budget for 2020 because of expected dips in tax revenue.
City Administrator Carl Geffken said with the economic disruption caused by COVID-19, the city assumed tax revenues will dip by 80% in April, but noted that dip could range between 20% and 80%. Geffken told city directors at the April 7 board meeting that collections in May also are expected to drop by 80%, while collections in June and July are expected to be 50% of what the city would normally collect. In total, he estimated a 22% reduction in city sales tax revenue because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CVB funds its operations with a 3% lodging tax. In 2019 the tax generated $920,247, up 9.5%. For the first quarter of 2020, the collections were $187,114, a 4.4% decrease from 2019’s first quarter revenue of $195,766, Legris said.
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