Editor’s Note: This is the first in weekly series about the Nov. 12 bond election. Each story will examine one of the three questions on the ballot.

FAYETTEVILLE — Residents have an opportunity next month to decide how they want future hotel, motel and restaurant taxes to be spent.

If voters approve three questions on the Nov. 12 ballot, bonds will be issued to help pay to improve the Walton Arts Center and begin building a regional park in southwest Fayetteville.

But the first question voters have to decide is whether to settle the Advertising and Promotion Commission’s debt.

Voters in the late 1990s approved a $6.95 million bond issue to build the Town Center, a convention and event building on the south side of the downtown square. A portion of the commission’s tax on hotel stays and food purchases has gone to paying the debt.

About $1.3 million in debt remains, Marilyn Heifner, commission executive director, said last week. Two annual payments of about $675,000 remain, and the commission will be debt-free by October 2015.

The commission would continue the same annual payment for up to 25 years if the $11.9 million in new bonds are issued.

“We will not be asking for any new tax,” said Jeff Koenig, chairman of a group advocating for bond passage called Three Votes for Fayetteville. “Hotel, motel and restaurant taxes will stay the same whether this bond issue passes or fails.”

No organized opposition has formed against the Town Center ballot issue. Voters will decide each question separately. If any of the questions fail, the City Council will determine what amount of bonds would be issued.

Voters could only decide to repeal the city’s hotel, motel and restaurant tax after all debt is retired, according to City Attorney Kit Williams.

Members of the Three Votes for Fayetteville group, which is associated with the Chamber of Commerce, have been making the case for the bond issue during the Saturday farmers’ market on the square and by talking to parents at Lewis Soccer Complex about the need for new ball fields at the regional park.

If the measure to pay Town Center debt fails, bonds will not be issued for the regional park or Walton Arts Center, according to Paul Becker, city finance director.

Becker said investors need assurance there’s enough tax money to make scheduled payments. If the Town Center debt isn’t paid there’s not enough money available to take on additional debt, Becker said.

The commission took in about $2.5 million in hotel, motel and restaurant taxes last year. After making bond payments, the remainder of the money is used to operate the Town Center, the Visitors Bureau and the Clinton House Museum. Some money also is set aside for various events.

Voters approved a 1 percent hospitality tax in 1977 to build a conference center on the northeast corner of the square. The building is now the University of Arkansas Global Campus. In 1985, an additional 1 percent tax was added for the Parks and Recreation Department.

Heifner said, before the Town Center, there wasn’t a facility in Fayetteville to accommodate up to 1,000 guests for a sit-down dinner. Last year, the building hosted more than 260 corporate events, trade shows, nonprofit fundraisers, weddings and other social gatherings.

“Just as the Walton Arts Center rejuvenated Dickson Street, the downtown square was starting to go into decline,” Heifner said. “The Town Center, plaza and parking deck kind of brought it back.”

If new bonds were issued today, they would be repaid at 4 to 4.25 percent interest, said Dennis Hunt, senior vice president for Stephens Inc. The actual rate won’t be known until bonds are issued, Hunt said. “The market changes every day,” he explained.

Hunt said it might be next spring before bonds are issued. Even if all three ballot questions pass, the City Council must authorize Mayor Lioneld Jordan to issue bonds.

Repaying debt, building a park and improving a theater are all allowable uses for city hospitality taxes. According to Arkansas law, advertising and promotion commissions can use tax money for convention centers, tourist promotion facilities, public recreation facilities, auditoriums and parking lots.