Comments on: City Council Unanimous: Public Will Vote On FACC Funding

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:31:47 +0000

I would have to look at our budget sheet, but I believe FPAC received a small portion of LOST funds (I can't remember exactly where it came from) to augment our yearly budget in 2009. Normally we receive only a percentage of the Franchise Fees from Mediacom/LISCO, but for this year we requested a little extra in order to facilitate our move to a new facility, and to purchase some much needed equipment upgrades.

Just to give you an idea of where some of it went in 2009. 20,000 I believe is how much of our 50,000 budget came from LOST.

By: Jefferson County Votes 2-1 Against FACC Request | Fairfield Voice

Jefferson County Votes 2-1 Against FACC Request | Fairfield Voice — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:10:27 +0000

[...] of Fairfield’s upcoming vote on a reallocation of the City’s LOST funds (a measure approved by the Fairfield City Council this past Monday, January [...]

By: Michael Halley

Michael Halley — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:35:57 +0000

Alex, let me try to answer your question. This breakdown of the Local Option Sales Tax with 50% to Street Repair, 25% to Sewer Repair, and 25% for Community Betterment is only a couple of years old, so there's not a lot of "history" to point to. In that time several local organization have requested and received funds from the Community Betterment portion of the tax, but none (aside from ArtWalk) are counting on the funds on an ongoing basis. Most of the projects funded this tax were once-per-decade upgrades that were completed simply because the funds were available (e.g. resurfacing the Little League fields).

So your last statement is the most accurate: the 12.5% will be used as needs arise. ArtWalk is the only ongoing program (that I'm aware of) that received LOST funds in 2009 and will most likely request additional funding in 2010. Since Community Betterment is a broad term then those funds could also potentially be used by City departments to fund needed upgrades, though I believe the original intent was to use the funds to community projects.

In short, there is not a long list of specific projects counting on continued Community Betterment funding, which technically makes the 12.5% for the Center "available" funds.

By: Dawn Merydith

Dawn Merydith — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:22:22 +0000

Good questions Alex! I hope we can get the specifics on this- transparency!

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:08:48 +0000

I find "community betterment" too vague a description for me to make a decision on this. What will not be funded in order to fund the FACC? If FACC is not funded, what will the 12.5% be spent on? Are there specific projects competing for those same funds or would that 12.5% just be doled out, in the moment, as needs arise?

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:45:38 +0000

Tonight, 7pm in the Activities Building at the Fairgrounds