City plans to create Arts, Culture and Tourism Authority to fund, support new

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – As a next step toward building a new Performing Arts Center downtown, the City of Clarksville plans to create an Arts, Culture and Tourism Authority (ACT Authority) to provide funding and support.

The ACT Authority would be a legally separate entity from City government, but with board appointments made by the City, according to City spokesman Jimmy Settle. An executive director would be appointed by the Authority board.

The ACT Authority would own not just the PAC, but also the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center. The Authority would also allocate city funding to the Customs House, the Roxy Regional Theatre and the Arts & Heritage Development Council, though each of those will continue to have separate boards.

“The creation of this ACT Authority comes with the intent of obligating and ensuring a solid base of revenue support and daily management for our entire package of arts, culture and tourism offerings in the City of Clarksville,” said Mayor Joe Pitts in a news release.

“I greatly appreciate our chief financial officer, Laurie Matta, who spent countless hours researching this endeavor and creating a sound, workable solution that is quite exciting, and will carry the City forward with confidence,” Pitts said.

Goals of ACT Authority

The main objectives of the ACT Authority would be:

• To maximize the economic, tourism, social and cultural benefits of Clarksville.
• To identify and assist in developing cultural events and providing a location to display the various forms of art within Clarksville.
• To coordinate a calendar of events for cultural and artistic creators.

An Authority devoted to arts, culture and tourism would be beneficial, according to the city, in that it would offer:

• Sustainability, by bringing all arts under one umbrella with the goal of them being self-supporting entities to preserve the arts and history while also supporting the downtown area with tourist destinations.
• Economies of scale, by utilizing one marketing strategy, one human resources department, and one department, each, for accounting and maintenance, among others. This will reduce individual costs and make them more efficient.

When asked whether the Customs House and Roxy would fall under the ACT Authority’s HR and accounting departments, Settle told Clarksville Now that is the goal, but it might take time to complete the transition.

Separate funding, separate debt

The City is creating the ACT Authority, in part, to assist with financing the new Performing Arts Center, which will require taking on debt. State law prohibits the City from lending its credit, but a separate Authority can issue debt and avoid the lending-of-credit issue, the release said.

The Authority, and not the City, will hold title to the property for the Performing Arts Center and Customs House. If the Authority ever failed or was dissolved, those assets would revert back to City ownership.

Funding for the Authority would come from revenue it generates from operating the facilities. Other funding sources would be:

• City hotel/motel tax of 4%, dedicated to tourism, resulting in approximately $2.2 million annually.
• County hotel/motel tax of 8% with 12.5% to the City’s General Fund. Montgomery County Government ratified a measure on July 9, 2018, stipulating that approximately $650,000 annually would be budgeted to fund City tourism. It is currently budgeted to fund the Museum.

Under this plan, the Customs House, Arts & Heritage and the Roxy will each submit annual budget requests to the ACT Authority for funding, the release said.

The goal is for the Authority to be self-supporting. As it launches, if revenues and the two categories of hotel/motel tax that the City will dedicate to the Authority are not sufficient, the Authority may request financial assistance from the City. The City can use non-property/ad valorem tax dollars to support the Authority. To help the Authority get started with funding, the City will appropriate initial funding in its budget and assist the startup organization with cash flow.

Creating the ACT will require a City Council resolution, and that will be presented to the council at a Special Session meeting on Monday, Feb. 26, at 5:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

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