I’m the first to admit that newspapers sometimes report part of a story without getting in all the details. Our readers charge us with the task of printing the news in a format that can be read in a few minutes with nuggets of information they want to know. That means that sometimes we report those “broad strokes” without delving into the finer points of a topic.
Think it’s easy? Try listening in on a group of people who talk about 10 different topics over the course of two hours and then relate that to your neighbor in 500 words or less.
It’s a challenge.
I say all that to make it clear that I know there’s a great deal of discussion going on about the proposed A&P tax that the Arkadelphia City Council has had on their agenda for the past few meetings. And I know that it’ll continue to be discussed over the coming meetings.
But Director-at-Large James Calhoon recently made a comment that caught my attention. He said that the people who are really going to pay up if the council adopts an A&P tax are the travelers on the Interstate.
For those new to the topic, let me catch you up. An A&P tax is often referred to as a “hamburger tax.” It’s a tax on some very specific items, such as prepared food – that’s mainly restaurants and fast food – and hotels, often referred to formally as “short term lodging.”
Back to Mr. Calhoon’s comment.
I eat out in Arkadelphia, probably more than a lot of people. I’m NOT a morning person and packing a lunch is just about beyond me. Plus, I’ll take any excuse to escape the office for an hour to meet up with friends, my daughter, my cousin from Florida, my daughter’s cousin from Friendship, my son-in-law’s mother, my husband’s niece's best friend or the guy who details my car. And I’ll eat just about anywhere. I have a couple of favorites but I’ll go (and go back) to just about any eating place in the area.
Granted, I’m probably not going to be staying in a motel around here because it’s only 10 minutes to my house, but I do eat out. That means that if the city passes and A&P tax, I’m going to pay.
I’m not at all saying that the city shouldn’t pass the tax. There are some really stringent guidelines for spending revenue from an A&P tax and we could do with spending some money in some of those areas. The “A” stands for “advertising” (and the “P” stands for “promotions,”) meaning that advertising the city is among the things that could be funded with the money. Recreational facilities are also on that list.
I think the city directors have a lot of discussion ahead of them before they make a decision and I think the people of Arkadelphia need to speak out on this issue. While a lot of good could come from that revenue pool, there’s little doubt that times are tough and it may not be the right time for the people of the area to take on the burden of another tax.
Will people traveling through who happen to stop at a local restaurant be kicking in some? Sure. But local people will also feel the tax.
Will it be a lot added onto your lunch ticket? No, but it will add up.
By the way, there’s a poll currently on the Siftings Web site asking whether there should be an A&P tax enacted. While the results are certainly not scientific, as of this writing there were 75 percent opposed with a total of 28 votes. The site is at www.siftingsherald.com.
Wendy Ledbetter is the editor for the Siftings Herald and can be reached at wendylledbetter@gmail.com
