Retail Businesses Needed in Springdale

STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Lincoln coach Brad Harris speaks to his team Friday before taking the field against Stillwater (Okla.) High School at Bob Lyall Field at the Randal Tyson Sports Complex in Springdale. Some Springdale residents say maintenance of city baseballs fields has been poor, possibly caused by low sales tax receipts.

STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Lincoln coach Brad Harris speaks to his team Friday before taking the field against Stillwater (Okla.) High School at Bob Lyall Field at the Randal Tyson Sports Complex in Springdale. Some Springdale residents say maintenance of city baseballs fields has been poor, possibly caused by low sales tax receipts.

Monday, March 24, 2014

— City officials said they're playing short-handed compared with other area cities when trying to provide services for Springdale residents.

Springdale receives less per resident in sales taxes than the three other large cities in Northwest Arkansas, said Mayor Doug Sprouse. The city -- which had 69,797 residents in the 2010 U.S. Census -- received $308 per resident in city sales tax in 2013, based on sales tax receipts totaled by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

BY THE NUMBERS

City Sales Taxes Per Resident

For the Four Largest Cities in Northwest Arkansas in the 2010 U.S. Census

City * Bentonville * Fayetteville * Rogers * Springdale

Population * 35,301 * 73,580 * 55,964 * 69,797

2010 Sales Tax * $19.3 million * $36.4 million * $27.5 million * $21.2 million

Per Capita * $546 * $491 * $494 * $303

2011 Sales Tax * $17.6 * $25.3 * $34.1 * $20.8

Per Capita * $497 * $451 * $463 * $298

2012 Sales Tax * $17.8 million * $23.7 million * $32.5 million * $19.7 million

Per Capita * $502 * $423 * $441 * $282

2013 Sales Tax * $20.7 million * $37.1 million * $29.3 million * $21.5 million

Per Capita * $587 * $504 * $525 * $308

Source: Arkansas Department of Administration and Finance

Fayetteville received $504, 64 percent higher. Rogers collected $524, or 72 percent higher, and Bentonville $587 or 90 percent higher. The problem comes, Sprouse said, from the lack of retail sales in Springdale.

Many residents go to other cities to make their purchases, he said.

"I don't think it's a secret," Sprouse said. "We've been bleeding sales tax money to Fayetteville for years. Now it may be worse. We're bleeding to Rogers and Bentonville, too."

The numbers show Fayetteville, Rogers and Bentonville have more retail shopping than Springdale, said Jeff Hawkins, executive director of the Northwest Regional Planning Commission.

"You have more nonresidents coming to those towns than you have nonresidents shopping in Springdale," Hawkins said. "It's easy to drive from Springdale to Rogers or Fayetteville."

The lower sales tax collection leaves Springdale with less money to spend, Sprouse said.

"We have to be more efficient," Sprouse said. "We've got to make every dollar count."

The lack of money shows up in city parks, said Nikki Johnston, a parent of a Springdale High School baseball player.

"I think they need more help to maintain the ballfields," Johnston said. "I've seen much better fields in smaller communities."

Rick McWhorter, city director of parks and recreation, said the long run of bad weather this winter has been a big problem. The park staff also has been busy with a major project: replacing all the bleachers in Tyson Park and installing shade covers at Tyson and J.B. Hunt Park, he said.

McWhorter agrees more park workers would be helpful.

The Parks Department will have to have more people when two parks open, Sprouse said. A bond sale raised $16.1 million to buy land for two parks. A city sales tax will repay the bonds.

One park, in the southeast quadrant of the city, will be completely developed while a park in the northwest section will only be developed as much as bond money allows, Sprouse said.

Opening two parks when you can't take care of the ones you have doesn't make sense, Johnston said.

The new parks, as well as street improvement and fire station construction, is part of creating better infrastructure for the city, Sprouse said.

"Officials can't just bring a new retail business into the city," Sprouse said.

The business must see a situation where they will make money, Hawkins said.

"Retail is market driven," Hawkins said. "Businesses need to feel confident they will make a profit. It's not to bring them in."

Much of the infrastructure improvement planned for the area west of Interstate 540. The improvement will create better access to that area, Sprouse said. The new Walmart Supercenter under construction wouldn't be under construction if the city hadn't improved Elm Springs Road.

"I've known about that going in for two years, and it will open in August," he said. "That's how long it takes for things like this."

NW News on 03/24/2014