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Excess sales tax committee recommends roughly $950,000 for youth facilities, downtown kiosks and Gordy Park repairs
Summary
A citizen committee told the El Dorado City Commission it wants roughly $950,000 in excess sales tax dollars directed to youth facilities (including a BMX site), downtown kiosks, Gordy Park improvements and other community needs; the proposals are concepts that will require formal appropriation and program detail before funds are released.
Ashley Jack, representing the excess sales tax committee, told the El Dorado City Commission the group reviewed roughly $950,000 in requests and voted on a package of recommendations for the commission to consider.
The recommendations prioritize youth and community projects. "We had right at about $950,000 to look at," Jack said. The committee recommended $50,000 for a BMX facility, but Jack said members worried $50,000 might not cover needed site work and fencing. The committee also recommended a $300,000 youth-facilities allocation intended to support multiple park-and-recreation projects — with some of that money targeted to augment the BMX site once a final location and setup are decided.
Why it matters: The funds come from an excess local sales tax pot that the committee was asked to allocate for community projects. If the commission approves, the recommendations would direct one-time money toward recreation, downtown improvements and park infrastructure rather than toward recurring operating costs.
Details of the committee package presented to the commission included: - BMX facility: committee approved $50,000 but noted the amount may be limiting; site work, fencing, lighting and possible land purchase were discussed as additional needs. - Youth facilities: $300,000 recommended to be used across park-and-rec activities and potentially to supplement the BMX site. - Downtown kiosks and speaker system: the committee proposed $30,000 for two downtown kiosks (the original request was $15,000 for one kiosk) and urged completing an existing downtown speaker system (an earlier allocation of $90,000 for a speaker system was referenced by the committee). - Gordy Park pavilion: $185,000 recommended to support pavilion-area work; committee members suggested some of those funds could complete the downtown speaker system expansion. - Other supported items: bike-path bridge repairs, police radio replacement, housing programs, small-business assistance, property-maintenance assistance and a city media-production room.
The committee also discussed holiday decorations replacement as a multi-year (four-year) commitment and said the community should expect a public Christmas tree this year; the committee said that tree would not be funded from the excess sales tax allocation. Jack said some committee members proposed siting the tree near Gordy Park because of traffic-safety concerns at the initially discussed location.
Committee members emphasized the recommendations are conceptual. The meeting record notes the programs "are concepts and the full program . . . will be worked out as those funds are finalized and appropriated." The commission did not take final appropriation action on the recommendations at the meeting; the presentation was made for the commission's consideration and future action.
Quotes and attribution in this story come from members who spoke at the commission meeting. The committee presentation, questions from commissioners and brief clarifications are recorded in the meeting transcript.
