The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors decided 2-1 against allowing county residents to vote on whether a reallocation of Local Option Sales Tax revenues should be made to fund the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center. Supervisor Dick Reed stood alone in his support for putting the issue to the ballot this May, a vote which would coincide with the City 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 11th).
Supervisors Dimmitt and Bergmeier voted against putting the issue to the voters. Dimmitt questioned whether the FACC is a viable building or business. He doubts the center will be able to secure enough donations to cover the $160,000 gap between revenue and expenditures projected for the 2010 budget. “It says to me that if we enter into this public-private relationship, that even though we’ve been told we can evict, and we know realistically that that’s not going to happen, so that means that we will continue, from my estimation, to subsidize it from here into perpetuity. I don’t think it’s a viable solution.”
The issue can still be forced to a public vote in one of two ways: either the FACC can collect a petition of at least 400 signatures from County Residents requesting the issue put to a vote, or the City of Fairfield can force the County to put the issue on the ballot since 51% of the county’s population lives within city limits.
The FACC Board of Directors has their work cut out for them. They now have to spend more time forcing the issue to the ballot in the County, and give more time to a contingency plan in the event the County’s portion funding is never realized.
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I keep coming back to the same question: what's the alternative? The options are limited:
1. Sell it (no buyers have appeared)
2. Convert it to some other use (See this article: http://www.fairfieldvoice.com/2009/12/05/just-the... by Mark Cohen which says "The parties have determined that significant value only can be obtained from an educational or civic organization that has need of a performing arts center. Significant value probably cannot be realized from conversion of the center to commercial, retail or industrial use")
3. Close it. (Does anybody benefit from a large shuttered facility in Fairfield's downtown?)
4. Raze it. (Probably not enough money for that, right?)
5. Support it. (This will take time, patience, and money. But consider the alternatives.)
Am I missing another choice?
What happens if the private-public partnership is not formed? That is the question that nobody seems to be able to answer.
During the public hearing at the Fairfield City Council, a resident raised this very question. Except he was arguing that it wouldn't be closed, and that private donors/entities wouldn't let it fail.
That is because right now the question IS unanswerable, it would be purely speculative as there are many factors to consider starting with the USDA and Iowa State Bank – neither of whom is prepared to comment on this until we get there.