The 1/4-cent parks and recreation tax money should begin making its way to the city coffers in the next few weeks.
Money that had been used to pay off parks and recreation bonds will now be available to maintain the parks system, able to fund items that range from the Delta Gateway Museum to the Blytheville Youth Sportsplex and city parks.
I was headed to North Carolina for a funeral when the Parks and Recreation Committee met Wednesday, Jan. 4, but according to the minutes, the board discussed which direction to take the parks system this year.
The minutes said Councilman Monte Hodges, who chairs the committee, wants to see new playground equipment and better maintenance of the parks this year. He suggested the city consider hiring seasonal workers to keep the parks manicured this summer.
The minutes said Hodges proposed hiring students to do the work, and Councilman John Musgraves nominated Shannon "Duck" Sims to oversee that project.
"We discussed what was priority and wasn't and that we needed to be responsible when spending the quarter percent park monies," Hodges wrote in the minutes.
They certainly do. And managing the funds.
Hopefully, city officials learned their lesson when squandering thousands of parks and recreation dollars a couple of years ago.
In 2010, the city turned over $105,000 to Rankin Enterprises -- co-owned by Blytheville resident Louis Rankin -- to renovate Cypress and Williams parks, with two-thirds of that money designated for Cypress. The funding included $90,000 from a 1/4-cent parks and recreation tax and a $15,000 donation from Nucor.
There were no additions to the parks, such as playground equipment or other amenities. The money was used mostly for mowing, weed-eating and repairs to the parks' facilities, according to financial statements.
And the parks were still weed-infested and in disrepair when all 39 checks were cashed.
Blytheville leaders have a responsibility to be cautious with the estimated $600,000-700,000 the tax will generate this year.
They also have an obligation to keep those funds separate and not co-mingle them with general funds.
Apparently, that wasn't done previously.
The city is now on the hook for about $130,000 to the bonding company that finished the Greyhound Bus Station.
According to city attorney Mike Bearden, city officials have no clue what happened to the money, which former Mayor Barrett Harrison's administration was supposed to set aside for the bus station.
I guess the $130K just disappeared like the payroll taxes -- most likely, misappropriated.
Blytheville residents deserve their tax dollars making the parks system the best it can be.
The incompetencies of the past are unacceptable; the inability to account for public money is disturbing.
As someone once said, every dollar should have a name.
To add to that, every dollar should be spent appropriately, as earmarked.
Funds should be used on projects benefiting the most residents. To me, the bulk of the parks and recreation funds should go toward the Blytheville Youth Sportsplex and the city parks.
The Sportsplex and parks serve the most people, and maintaining/bettering them go along way toward improving the quality of life.
Dumping money into projects that benefit the few makes no sense.
Making the biggest impact should be the priority because there won't be a shortage of requests for the parks and recreation funds.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com