Committee forwards Resolution 25,028, authorizing MOU with A&P Commission on sports complex, to full council

A City of Jonesboro committee unanimously voted to forward Resolution 25,028 to the full City Council and add it to tonight's agenda, authorizing a memorandum of understanding with the City of Jonesboro Advertising Promotion Commission that acknowledges the city’s support for and consent to developing a proposed sports complex.

The resolution formalizes longstanding arrangements under which the city provides accounting and fund-management services to the Advertising and Promotion (A&P) Commission and authorizes entering into an MOU in substantially the form attached as Exhibit A. Committee discussion and supporting documents presented at the meeting recite two local ordinances: Ordinance 13-61 (adopted May 21, 1973), which established a 1% tax on gross receipts from motel and hotel accommodations to fund advertising and a convention center, and Ordinance 21-046 (adopted Nov. 2, 2021), which levied a 2% tax on prepared-food sales and directed the commission to use those revenues to develop public recreation facilities that promote tourism in Jonesboro.

A presenter at the meeting told the committee that the A&P Commission has engaged the local community to identify needs and design a recreational and tourist-oriented facility that could include an aquatic center, courts for basketball, volleyball and pickleball, synthetic turf fields, meeting rooms, community event space, offices and a kitchen. The commission has sought financing assistance from the City of Jonesboro Public Facilities Board and has accepted a term sheet from Capital 1 Public Funding LLC to acquire lease-revenue bonds; the presenter said the lender has offered to finance the board’s portion of the project and sought assurances that the city’s existing accounting arrangement would continue.

Jerry Morgan, chair of the Advertising and Promotion Commission, said the city has provided accounting services to the commission for about 20 years and that the commission recently hired its first full-time staff member, Craig Rickard, as executive director. "So our goal is to continue to put as much of the funds back in the community as possible," Morgan said. He described dual controls in current procedures—city staff issue checks and the commission does not handle cash—and said formalizing the arrangement would recognize the additional work the city is performing and create a framework for compensating the city for those services.

Committee members asked how staffing or costs would be handled if the workload increased. The presenter told the committee the MOU anticipates revisiting the compensation arrangement and that direct, project-related expenses (for example, a new server) could be billed to the A&P Commission; payments to the city were described as anticipated to be made on a quarterly basis. The presenter said the MOU includes language permitting modifications so the city is not required to assume an undue burden.

The committee then voted to forward Resolution 25,028 to the full City Council and to "walk it on" to tonight's council agenda. No individual roll-call votes were recorded in the committee minutes; the chair announced the committee vote was unanimous.

The resolution and the attached MOU are procedural steps to permit the Public Facilities Board to issue lease-revenue bonds, lease the completed sports complex to the A&P Commission, and allow the commission to operate the facility and pay rent from legally available funds, including revenues generated by the complex and the taxes deposited in the City of Jonesboro Advertising and Promotion Fund. The resolution also authorizes the mayor and city clerk to execute the MOU in substantially the form presented.

Next steps are for the full City Council to consider Resolution 25,028 on the council agenda that night. If the council approves the resolution and the board proceeds with the bond issuance, future meetings and documents are expected to address detailed financing terms, any compensation to the city for expanded accounting services, and the lease terms between the Public Facilities Board and the A&P Commission.