HOEOSCOIPE

Main Street funds under the microscope

WM Council gets details on budget ahead of vote on water tower project

news@theeveningtimes.com

Confusion reigns. A flood of questions began to arise around the tax pool funding the $242,000 Main Street West Memphis request to turn the East Broadway water tower into an artistic landmark. A trio of city councilmen voted to stop the ordinance from zipping through with three readings in one meeting. They wanted to get more details and feedback from constituents. Unless an emergency is declared, items are normally read three times over three meetings giving the public an opportunity for input before council passes a new resolution or ordinance. While in light of pending final artistic plans coming due June 30 and time declared of the essence by Main Street Director Deborah Abernathy, there was no emergency clause heard in the funding request. The final reading for approval moved back three weeks to April 6.

Good thing. According to City Treasurer Frank Martin there is no way the city council could have known what they were really doing. That’s because the tax doesn’t belong to Main Street to spend as it sees fit. The 1986 tax that brought the preservation and development district to life belongs in city coffers for the Mayor and City council to budget and use at its discretion.

Tracy Catt moved to postpone the final vote to get details but he was surprised to hear this news from the city treasurer during the March budget report. Catt thought the water tower vote had come to council for two reasons. Providing measured oversight was foremost on Catt’s mind.

“I thought it was here simply because it exceeded the $50,000 city spending limit and were also hearing it as a courtesy to Main Street,” said Budget Chairman Tracy Catt. “That’s why I thought we needed more details.”

Between city council and the budget meeting, Martin researched the tax eyed by Main Street for the water tank preservation project.

Martin worked with City Attorney David Peeples.

Looking at the original ordinance they found a cracked cistern and concluded the pot for the water tower belongs to the city and not Main Street. Martin was succinct in delivering the news.

“The Main Street sales tax is not a dedicated sales tax,” said Martin. “It belongs to city council to budget. They (Main Street) can’t spend this money.”

City Council hasn’t budgeted it either.

The only money Main Street can spend is the little bit they get in grant and in funds the state gives them,” said Martin. “It all goes in a separate account. It’s less than $50,000 per year and that is their money.”

Main Street used those funds this year to repair selected roofs on buildings along Broadway. Last year they used those grants and funds for awnings on storefronts to improve curb appeal through the preservation district.

Right now, there is a total of $900,000 in the tax account traditionally allotted half each for the industrial park and Main Street. Martin said he has to set up new accounts to keep the budget according to the newly unearthed original requirements.

“The new fund would be called main street development

program and the industrial park development

program,” said Martin. “I will separate that out with the balance as of Dec. 31.

From then, on two-tenths of that tax is going to each account.”

Martin emphasized the new reality in accountability for the Main Street funds. It is a whole new paradigm.

“That money is strictly a budgetary item up to the mayor and city council,’ said Martin. “It is not a dedicated fund.”

Budget Committee member and first-year City Councilman Wayne Croom asked for clarity.

“But it can only be used for Main Street projects, right?” said Croom.

“No,” replied Martin. “It can be used for any improvement, like economic development if the city council so sees fit — Broadway one block at a time, Missouri Street, or any other area.”

Martin brought the discussion full circle back to the scheduled final vote concerning the water tower art treatment.

“It’s city council’s decision,” said Martin. “That is why it came back. Even if it actually had been a dedicated sub tax they would have had to come to council because it exceed the $50,000 spending limit and it asked to waive competitive bidding. But the third step, after looking at the code is, they had to change everything because they had to have city council budget the money.”

None of that had been clear to any of the four budget committee councilors during the March 16 city council meeting.

“I did not know that,” said Catt. “I did not know it was a general budget item. I did not know how much it was until the day of the meeting. I sure thought it was separate and we were giving it a courtesy review.”

With the newfound responsibility Catt still hadn’t decided how to vote about the water tower modern art sculpture making a focal point in Main Street. The water tower proposal joins the planned move by the city library to build on East Broadway. Proponents of the project want to use the attraction to lure cycling tourism into town from the Big River Crossing and the Delta Regional River Park now under development by the city.

By John Rech