[UPDATE: the County Board of Supervisors voted no to have a public vote on whether to fund the FACC with LOST revenues]
The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing Thursday evening on whether or not the county should hold an election to support the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center (FACC) with a portion of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST).   A standing room only crowd filled nearly 200 chairs and then lined the sides and back of room.   Thirty two citizens expressed opinions that varied widely from the thoughtful to the absurd during the 2 1/4 hour public hearing at the fairgrounds.

The meeting started with each supervisor giving some background on the issue, then Pat McMahon and Dave Neff spoke on behalf of the FACC.  Then a steady flow of citizens started to approach the microphone, some didn’t necessarily like the idea of having any change in the LOST allocation, but did support the process of letting the people express themselves at the ballot box.

The current allocation for the county portion of the LOST funds is 80% for property tax relief and 20% for bridge and culvert repair.  According to the supervisors, the current property tax relief that could be put toward the FACC, should a vote be held and it passed, is $6 per $100,000 of  valuation.  In other words, a county resident with a property valued at $500,000 would lose $30 of tax relief per year, however, many speakers were not interested in having any of their money going toward the center.

One speaker was not interested in holding an election because they didn’t want the county to incur the cost. Bob Moore of the FACC board responded that they have the money raised to cover the election cost for both the city and county, they will make a donation of that amount to each entity.

Jim Salts spoke in favor of the center and the vote saying, “if we don’t look forward and make the community attractive, our young people will have no reason to return and live here after college.”

A ’show of hands’ vote near the end of the meeting indicated that the majority of citizens in attendance were not in favor of putting the issue to a vote, nearly half of the speakers indicated a desire to put the question to a vote.

The Board will vote on holding the election during their regular meeting Monday @ 9:00, an estimated 4500 residents in the unincorporated areas of the county would be eligible to vote in the proposed election.

Facts and information about the plan to save the FACC can be found at http://www.fairfieldcenterinfo.com/

Bob Moore, President of the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center Board, spoke to the Fairfield City Council Monday evening.  Mr. Moore reviewed the center’s revised business plan and some of the center’s highlights from 2009.

Some of the highlights include;

• 262 Events in the Sondheim theater
• 325 Meetings and expos
• Nearly 14,000 out of town visitors
• $5 Million of spending influx from those visitors

Even with all the good news, the center is still  unable to fund the debt, or the annual operating expenses.  The board has a two-part fund raising plan, one to retire the $950,000 non-mortgage debt, and one to supplement operating revenues estimated at $306,000 for 2010.  The plan is to approach past donors first, those donors generously gave $400,000 to the center last year.  Mr. Moore stated that the next 3-4 months will determine the future of the FACC.

The FACC has been appraised at $1.75 million as an operating facility, this figure fits favorably with the amount hoped to be reallocated from city and county Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds.  As required by the USDA, the mortgage guarantor, the FACC building is currently for sale, however no interested buyers have yet surfaced and the FACC board has little confidence that one will appear.

In an effort to keep the refinancing process moving forward, Mr. Moore asked that the Council schedule a public hearing for the first meeting in January.  This would be the first step in the process of getting the LOST reallocation to a public vote.  The Council voted unanimously to hold the public hearing January 11, 2010.  It was suggested that consideration be given to holding the meeting somewhere other than City Hall in order to accommodate the large crowd that it will undoubtedly attract.

So, the question is; should the city & county reallocate LOST revenue to the FACC?

UPDATE: click here to download the FACC Business Plan.