Blytheville City Councilwoman Carol White questioned the profitability of Thunder Bayou Golf Links and the city's annual contributions to the Greater Blytheville Area Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Blytheville Monday night.
The Blytheville City Council's Finance Committee met for more than two hours, dissecting the proposed 2010 budget. The committee plans to meet again at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Municipal Courtroom to continue discussion of the budget, which the Council must pass by Feb. 1.
Monday night, White asked why the city should contribute $15,000 to the Chamber and $30,000 to Main Street Blytheville.
"How have other people had an opportunity to bid in for this $30,000?" White asked.
Finance Committee chairman Shirley Overman said the city was already funding Main Street Blytheville when the organization requested more funding to hire a director and take care of the planters on Main Street.
Overman said Main Street director Anita Parrett, who recently resigned, has "done a wonderful job" in the ongoing effort to revitalize downtown Blytheville. (The Main Street board is in the process of hiring a new director.)
"We're not in the business of employing," White said.
"But we're in the business of improving Blytheville, Ark.," Overman interjected. "And that does improve Blytheville, Ark. The Chamber of Commerce, Main Street -- they all improve Blytheville, Ark. If you quit funding them, you're going to see it go down."
White said the nonprofit organizations' funding could come from grants instead of city dollars.
Thunder Bayou was another hot topic at Monday's meeting.
The proposed expenditures for TBGL tally $587,160, down about $40,000 from the 2009 projection. The proposed expenditures include $293,428 for personnel and $293,732 for general operations.
Thunder Bayou has four full-time employees, and it uses seasonal workers, TBGL superintendent Jeff Haskins said.
White asked how much actual revenue the golf course produced in 2009, and how that figure compares to the projected expenditures verses projected revenue.
Haskins said he didn't have the exact figures at hand.
City personnel director Judy Andrews noted the city's financial figures are made available each month in the Council members' packets.
Haskins said the Finance Department closely monitors the net income and net loss, and the Golf Facilities Board discusses the direction of the facility monthly.
"Rarely is a time when we spend 100 percent of our budget," Haskins said. "We've never exceeded our projected revenue. The Finance Department does a good job of monitoring our revenue and adjusting our expenses to match the revenue. So at the end of the year if we budgeted, let's say we adjusted $186,000, if we bring in less money than we projected to get to that number, we'll spend that much less and adjustments will be made."
Haskins said citizens voted to build the golf course, and the city is responsible for maintaining the large investment.
"Whether it's profitable or not, there's a million different variables that go into profitability of a facility," Haskins said. "A lot of it is the quality of the facility. The city of Blytheville doesn't have the capital right now to improve the facility to compete with our competition in a lot of ways that maybe we could. Maybe we could get into the black if we spent a million dollars."
He added putting $1 million into the golf course is "not a sure deal" it would be a money-maker, however.
White also questioned proposed funding to the Blytheville Youth Sportsplex.
Of the proposed $963,733 Parks and Recreation budget, the Sportsplex's portion is $142,102, which includes $72,732 for personnel and $69,370 for general operation. There is one full-time employee at the Sportsplex as well as seasonal workers.
"The city is pumping a lot of money into the Sports Complex, and we're not getting anything out of it," White said. "How do we adjust and make sure we're not losing a large sum of money because we're losing over $600,000 a year in the sports complex."
Along with the proposed $142,102 in expenditures for the Sportsplex, other proposed Parks and Recreation entities and their expenditures include: city parks/pool, $132,237; Missco Junior League Football field, $5,343; First Tee of Northeast Arkansas, $14,133; Delta Gateway Museum, $66,535; and Thunderland Soccer Complex, $16,223.
Speaking about Missco, the Sportsplex and the soccer fields, Haskins said: "All those things don't bring in any direct revenue, but those are all things that we've been asked to maintain, regardless of what our income is (at those facilities)."
Faye Griggs noted the Sportsplex hosts baseball and softball tournaments, which draw in people that spend money at hotels, restaurants, gas stations, retail stores, etc.
"Parks do not make any money," Overman said, noting they are designed to improve the quality of life for residents.
The board also had a lengthy discussion on the Street Department funding.
In the proposed 2010 budget, the city anticipates an additional $405,000 to work with next year for street construction. The 1/4-cent street bond is slated to retire in May 2010.
Councilman Monte Hodges asked for a breakdown of how that $405,000 from the tax will be spent.
Blytheville Mayor Barrett Harrison noted the Council decides what capital street projects the money goes toward.
Councilman R.L. Jones said each Council member prioritizes streets in his or her ward that need repair.
"As a Council, we need to be sitting down with an engineer that has gone through this city and said what is the streets that are in need of repair irrespective of the ward representative," White said.
Jones said: "We've still got to listen to the people that are in our ward and evaluate what needs to be done in each ward."
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com