A&p Commission - Regular Meeting

Let me know when you're ready.

Quarters everywhere. This is for the YouTube.

All right, we'll call this meeting to order. Mr. Brown? Here. Mr. Hanson?

Here.

Mr. Smith? Here. And Mr. Powell?

Here.

If you would take a look at your minutes for the April 7th meeting. No motion whenever you all

I make a motion we accept them. Second.

All in favor? All right. Thank you. Review the finances. And remember, we don't have our yellow marks. So I want to remind you. I guess number 18 has always been kind of a troubled one.

Yeah, I think you're right.

Other than that, we have number five. Is he still here? Is five still here, Hayden? Is that your?

Yes. Yes?

I'll handle that one. Okay. I think we're going to talk to them all.

What about 33? Didn't you say there was somebody that got a letter you talked to?

Is that you?

No. Of course I don't handle anything. Oh.

We just started this in May. Thank goodness I don't handle anything. Okay.

So as we learn a little bit about what agreements you may have had and how this all worked, we'll be more apt to be able to respond and act accordingly on it. We didn't know about anyone that had the 10-8-5. I don't know if they... paid by the year or if they paid by the prepared food that they make and sell, just like in prison, mortar wood. I don't know how that works.

It was my understanding that's how it would be.

Yeah, number 27, too. Are they still open?

They're starting, yes.

They weren't open for a while.

They're not open yet. They're not open yet. We have a permit coming up on it.

And they moved from one spot, and then out of here, they got off from Keith, Glass, or whatever, and then they moved again.

And now they're going to be reopening.

Okay.

So what we're understanding is that period of time they weren't in business. Okay. And the number 37... That's the Airbnb.

Oh, really?

So based on what we understand, there wasn't any rentals.

He's bought another one.

Sad that that's the only one we paid.

Yeah, and sad that there's no other way of finding a way through that.

Yeah.

Do they pay it, or does that come through Airbnb? They pay it.

It will not go through Airbnb, and that's the whole issue. Those corporate platforms refuse to do that. They started out, and only a few cities in Arkansas were able to secure it, a bigger city, two or three of them.

There's no way you, they're not, Fran, I mean, they're not, there's nothing you can do about it, is there?

No. I mean, and they've got deep pockets, that corporate network of,

But if you could levy something on the Airbnb, the people themselves that has them, maybe they put pressure on Airbnb.

Well, remember, I tried to get through to them through the platform. And Airbnb threatened to kick me off and not let me have access whatsoever. That's forbidden. Chasing people around.

Oh, for the owners. Yeah. Well, the tax record should tell you who the owners are.

It was really hard to find. No kidding.

They've got it figured out then.

Yes. Okay. Mr. Marsh?

I will point out, you have a highlighted one up there. That highlight number is indicative of, you will see that highlighted for every... uh... tax discount, so you will have a running total of what the discounts mean to the vendor, but it'll also be what does it take away from the revenue that you are getting. So we're fully disclosing that, and then we can run a report down, drill down on that, and we'll tell you every vendor that took it. And trust me, if they're not able to take it, they will be billed for the percentage that wasn't appropriate.

It'll show up there as the A&P tax discount.

The A&P tax discount is the 2% for early payment. That's any time right now the clock's ticking for the month of May. The May taxes are due in June. They have between now and the 20th. And it's postmarked for in-person payment by the 20th.

Same as sales tax. Exactly. Because I'm always fighting getting the discount on sales tax remittance.

section three, we will, the commission is the advertising and promotion commission of the city, or by the designated commission, we're collecting the tax in the same manner and at the same time as the tax levy by the Arkansas Gross Receipt Act, and as authorized by Act 166, 1989, and that is the one that gives them the 2%, so by law, you are required to do that because of your ordinance that states So we've got it on our forms, and if they go on to TechConnect in order to go through our portal, and they can actually fill out that form by putting in their gross receipts, and it automatically calculates knowing the date, whether they hit the few percent or not, and it does all the calculations, and it allows them even to pay online if they want to. If they don't, they can just print that form with the calculation already there and make their check table and send it to us.

But isn't there a 2% or 3% fee to pay online? Just checking.

to city council yesterday through May, we are still very favorable, 7.49% cumulative for January through May so far in distributions, and that city sales and use tax is kind of a barometer of how the overall sales and purchasing power of the citizens of Greenwood is, their sentiment, and confidence, if you will. The next thing we're going to look at is it's flipped from what we were last year. Last year at this time, we all made it for the first five months. This year, we're all positive for the first five months. And it's reflected in that schematics of that graph. We do have rebates that we do deal with. I was telling you about the rebates have to deal with the amounts that are given back based on the law to certain remitters or certain purchasers. In the month of May, the amount that was pulled and remitted back to the vendors that applied for that rebate was in line with what we normally would see in a standard, typical period. We are expecting some higher rebates down in the October-November periods because of what's going to be happening right out here outside of our building starting next week, which is closing that road and they're tearing that bridge down. They're building a brand new bridge, and that means steel and that means concrete. Because the vendor has to collect it, send it in, and then they ask for the state to fund it back. So the city of Greenwood, as far as the sales is concerned, if you wanted to see a barometer of how the sales within the city of Greenwood is doing, or sales from online, that is point of delivery in the city limits of Greenwood, You're looking at 25 and 26 distributions to the city. And if you add back in the dollar amounts for the rebates and the audit portion, those are just redistributed not to the city but to vendors, but it's still a sale. So you add it back to come up with what would the distribution have been had there been no rebates and no audit. It's 1.8 million versus 1.7 million of the same period a year ago. So for the same period of taxable sales, it's merely dividing it by 2% to come up with the fact that there was $88 million worth of sales in the first five months of the year within the city of Greenwood's city limits. You're looking at $90 million for 2026 in total purchases. That is taxable, and that's a $2.5 million increase. What I share is, does that mean they're buying more or are they paying more for what they're buying when they're actually buying less? So when you look at the inflation rate, the current inflation rate, it's a roll in 12 months, through April of 2026 is 3.8%. And our growth is only 2.8%. So that 2.8%, though, does represent the core inflation rate. By core, that means they removed the food inflation percentage and the energy. They removed that because those are highly volatile. And what that does is it skews the actual what is your levelized inflation going forward. somewhere in the 3.5 to 3.8 to say that we've stabilized and there's still the same amount of volume of purchases. But what this indicates being that we're right at the core inflation is a lot of people here in Greenwood like to put fuel in their vehicles and they like to eat. And they go to the grocery store. I think that shouldn't technically be factored in. So I'm saying that the 3.8% somewhere in the 3.5 or 3.8 should say that we're online or in par with what we were in the previous years. But what it's indicating to me is that there's a drop off in the actual amount being purchased, but an increase in what it costs to purchase because that's taxable.

And the drop off is because of cost?

I think the drop off is because people are paying more for, they're buying less but paying more is what's happening. That's what this statistic is showing you here. If this number were 3.5 to 3.8, I would say they're buying on the same level of spend, and we should be seeing that come through in an increase even bigger than this. But because this number right here, 2.83, is below the inflation rate. This is only what's distributed to the city of Greenland, and we're up 5.7%. We did a complete flip of our combined taxes. really good. Now, let's get to yours. On the city's advertising promotion for May, you're up 11.4% over the previous May. For the cumulative, you had one little down in February, but other than that, you're at 6.86% up so far for the year cumulative. I don't know if you've raised prices on prepared foods or if you've seen a lot of that going on, but it parlays into in actual cumulative growth. Now here's all your Mays since 2018. So we're comparing Mays activity. You do see the trend line's positive. You see that you had a pickup from the previous 2025 numbers, which gives you that 6.6% increase cumulative. And then when you look at the average monthly A&P tax collections, you're still in a downward trend on an average per month. So one bad month could really skew these numbers. But this is the average for five months, $18,000 per month. You see where that's still a good number. It's less than the 2024 and less than the 2025. There's your downward trend. So if that keeps going in that direction, what will end up happening is if your average rolls for the rest of the year, you're going to end up being down 2.29%. That's a projection. 2.29% below last year. So you're gonna have two years in a row where you're having decline. And of course, this does not take into consideration ROMS, the impact of what they've done in opening up because we don't have a full month on them or any kind of historical significance to be a barometer. We do know that, as I expressed to the city council, that's just initially gonna be a shift from where they, oh, it's new, let's go over there. Same thing happened in Fort Smith when Warner Burger opened up. It was a huge event for like a month. And after that, you can drive through there anytime now. So that'll wane over time. And we understand that the pickup that we'll have in actual city sales and use tax growth, as well as A&P growth, will be from those that are driving down 71 that don't live in the city, that wouldn't otherwise have come into the city, that stopped there to pick up something from the market and or a fast food.

No, their market won't be taxed, though. No, it's city stuff that's taxed. Well, no, I mean, their milk and stuff they sell, that won't be A&P taxed. Correct. Just they're prepared.

Now this, and then for 2026, that's based on the first five months, that 18056. That's correct.

Okay. And that would be it in a nutshell.

We are trending positive, so that's good. Even though we're not maybe keeping up with inflation, per se.

Well, yeah, and eventually, like I said, increased prices does generate increased sales tax to you, but there's a point in the economics world that says it's diminishing returns. Eventually, what's going to happen is you're going to get to where you're going to price yourself out to where people are no longer going to be buying, and they're not going to be spending. So you could eventually see a downward trend, specifically in the UN and in city sales and use tax areas. One of the things that I do have access to in the city sales and use tax side is what industries are generating how much tax out of our city sales and use tax. I provided that to the city council at one time where I gave you the list and the percentages of what the revenues were And still 2024 was still kind of our, our high watermark. Okay. Thank you, Tom. Got a motion. I'll make motion. Second.

First grant request. Greenwood Roundup Club 26 Rodeo.

So, if Gary starts out on... Y'all sell tickets to the rodeo, don't you?

How many tickets did y'all sell last year?

You know how many people showed up? Is that $4,000 a night?

I guess it would be a total of $4,000, the whole thing. All right. We gave you some of them last time, right?

Yeah.

I'll make a motion. We give them the rest of the grant.

I'll second. All in favor of that? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

A mini bull?

Yeah, mini bowl.

Thank you very much. One more question.

Next year, could you be a little bit more accurate on the amount of tickets you sell so we can kind of keep track year for year?

We don't do tickets. We do gates. Okay.

But you count people going through the gates, though, don't you?

Yeah, we try to.

Just so we can get an accurate account. Right now, based on what you told us.

Last time we had the counters.

But it helps to know when it is growing.

We are selling online tickets to rodeotickets.com. They sell online free tickets, but most of our stuff at the gates.

And I'd be kind of curious, Richard, just, you know, where, like, the range your contestants are coming from. You know, are they coming from Oklahoma?

About $5 a ticket. We're putting in about $5 on everybody that shows up. That's just the rough bit, $4,000.

I mean, very serious. It's never been that big. Is that right? I'm very excited. And if I had that money, what brings it in, you know, getting a good stock contract? Thank you. Thank you.

You got Sammy Andrews? Do you? Nice.

All right. VFW.

We gave him $2,000 of it last time, right? Yes, sir. I make a motion that we give him the rest. Second. $4,700.

$4,700, yeah. Is Rod checking it?

Yeah. You're in favor of that? Yeah.

So this is more for the fair and pageant work? Correct. we are doing a youth rodeo as well. So we're gonna get the kids more involved. We're also gonna do activities on and last year the state

Somebody private message you? Somebody send a message on Facebook.

What was the attendance you said last year? 12,500. By the way, the car show was phenomenal.

We had 187 registered and then we had about

20 more that showed up late. They didn't get judged, but they still brought their cars out.

There was a ton of people there. There were people everywhere. Yeah, it was crazy.

The weather was perfect for it.

You had 187 registered? Yes, sir. Do you think it's probably one of the more well-attended ones we've had?

Well, so there was one just this last weekend in Fort Smith that the school – community arts or whatever it is next to the marshals museum and they Published that they were the largest car show in the river valley and they had 178 That they published The thing is we've been around so long before there was a car show every weekend. Now there's car shows every weekend. So the great thing about ours is we've got a big mailing list that we send out information starting in January with little refrigerator magnets with whatever our graphic is so that they get prepared for the date. And then we communicate with them. We have a Facebook page specifically for that. And we had contestants from Missouri, Oklahoma. We had a 1913 little fire truck come up from Hot Springs. And they just loved the whole show.

There was somebody that came from far away. I talked to him.

He came from Kansas with a rat rod.

Yeah, but he just drove it to Vegas or something before?

Yeah, he left Kansas, went to Las Vegas for a show, and he said, I wasn't missing yours because he came last year as well.

That was a long drive in that car.

Yeah, especially the year before when it was raining all up until the time the show started. So he was pulling over under underpasses because he didn't have a top on.

Given what we have left, I would recommend that remainder, $6,452.

And then have him come back to the next meeting?

Put him on the top of the list for the next meeting?

For the August meeting.

Okay, thank you.

I second it.

$6,452. And Rod seconded it.

Everybody in favor of that?

Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. What's the remainder that he'll be back for?

Subtract that from $22,500. $22,500.

And he doesn't have to come?

No.

No. We'll just put him number one on the agenda.

We'll make a big old dent in our next one.

In the next one, yeah, $15,000 plus, yeah.

Probably won't be about the same as this one, so there won't be much left over for anybody else. Yeah. But 12,000 people.

That's one of the biggest tourist attractions we have.

Yep, you're right. Okay.

The fair's always been a good... Per person, per what we give them, has always been very... Like $1.80.

Yeah.

What does that mean?

Well, that's like the rodeo. It's such a good family event, and there's so many people who come from the other areas. Hackett, Boonville, Waldron. I mean, that's a big family deal. So I think it's good for the community.

Okay, so number four, the 15th Annual Children's Hospital Disc Golf. You are... Yeah.

Y'all want to table him for next meeting? Yes, yes. Did we already give him some?

His event's not until November.

And we already gave him $2,000?

We already gave him $2,000. Oh, we already gave him $5,000? Yeah, we gave him $5,000. Oh, okay. Well, that's a lot better. That's a lot better, yeah. I'll make a motion we table him for the next meeting.

Yeah, second.

That's probably about all that's going to be left over from the next meeting.

Okay.

Talk about the mobile vendors and A&P tax? Finance?

We're just trying to get some direction on that. We kind of touched on it a little bit. I'm going to quote an ordinance. It is for the levy of tax, but not more. Okay. This one is just to talk about the rules and regulations of mobile vendors. Because we're getting our arms around what the ordinance says. And probably haven't been being followed to the extent that it's indicated here on the actual ordinance. There's mobile food vendors must have been required documentation. Collect and pay a monthly advertising and promotional tax to the city. 1% of gross receipts for prepared food. And if you ask, we should really say average. As levied by current green with city ordinance in effect. So that answers the question about do they pay a flat fee or do they... So the confusion came in because we were getting some flat fees, but the H says mobile food vendors must pay a $100 non-refundable A&P tax fee for the first year of operation and a $50 A&P tax renewal fee to be paid annually thereafter.

That's the part that's not being done, right?

Right. We've not seen any renewals, and we can start putting that on our radar and doing the billing for that based on this ordinance.

I have a question. On that, is our TechConnect able to automatically send renewals for those if they do the $100? Because I do know that Hunter initiates that first $100, but then maybe we can set the TechConnect or have them create a model.

As long as they're still around. Yes, that's always the problem. But if they were to come back, they would be back and they'd have to pay $100. So then it says, each application for permits to conduct a mobile vendor business shall be accompanied by a $25 permit review and processing fee. Okay. So then down under K, mobile vendors shall be required to renew their mobile vendor permit on an annual basis following the same time frame as the standard Greenwood business license renewal process. So they have to get it. Is that it? Is that it? $50? Renewal? That's the same thing as referring to that? It's just there's so many dollar amounts of things going around.

Is that that or is that the privilege license, really?

Do they have to pay a privilege license? Mobile food?

I think this is just talking about their $50 renewal. That's what they've got to do. It's just later on after the $50 renewal is mentioned. That's what that thing is.

Do they pay a driver's license? Yes.

They do?

Yes. It's a big business in Greenwood, isn't it? Oh, yeah.

We do have the permit application. We have one here.

Yes, I've got a copy.

Oh, you have a copy. And it does show the fees, $100 agency tax, $45 permit.

That privilege license, we still recognize Fort Smith, and Fort Smith recognizes ours.

It's a state law that we do. Yes. In any city.

Yes, okay.

Unless you have a brick and mortar in that city. Okay. Then you've got to pay it. Okay. So, like contractors can float around. Right. But the dogs, they've got to have one. Gotcha. If they want.

I just knew they recognized mine in Fort Smith.

I do.

They recognize it.

Fort Smith recognizes it.

Yeah, I pay Greenwoods. Fort Smith's a lot more.

Yeah. Don't say that too loud.

They'll go up.

Well, we went up after an hour and 11 minutes.

It is election year. They may not go up this year.

All right. So we are going to start doing the $50.

You good with that, Hayden, so I don't get a phone call tonight? I just want to call you. You can.

Well, it's almost like Airbnb. I mean, the fact that they're mobile, it's hard to...

They were put on there because we saw them as mobile vendors. signed up for the pre-invest event. And so far, we were putting them on there because we didn't know at that point whether they were going to be having to pay the 1% for the event. And we were determined that they were not paying the 1% for that. They are paying a fee to come to the event and to put their truck up, which is going directly to offset the cost of the actual event. I'd like that. Okay. Yeah, I guess number 40 would be like for the fall festival and things like that. Fantastic. I don't know. That's what we're doing next. I was wondering if we had anybody that was going to be passing along.

Expiring. I'm getting closer.

We all are every day. Every day.

Do we need a vote on the reappointments?

Well, I think

Rod, do you agree? That we're all up? Do you agree that you want to stay on the MP? It's just a yes or no question. Just nod your head. That's all I need.

Yes, for right this minute.

Okay, for right this minute.

Well, I'm trying to think of one of the other councilmen that might be good.

We don't need any of them.

Hayden's the only one that's not due until next year.

I will stay.

I'll stay.

We'll stay.

There you go. Everybody approve everybody? Show of hands. All right. Appreciate it.

Chris and Chris, they stay. They stay, too.

So that gets passed to the council?

Yeah.

Okay. So who all is the council going to see? I mean, who are the confirmations?

Everybody except for Hayden.

Everybody except for Hayden. Okay.

It's all of us except for Hayden, including Chris and Chris. Yes. Okay. All right. Okay.

No comments from the commission? I'll take that as a no. Adjournment?

I make motion. Second.

All right.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Charlotte. I let that little mishap slide.