FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Fort Smith officials are working to figure out how to fill an $800,000 hole in the city’s convention center budget after voters rejected an increase in the tax on prepared foods.
The Southwest Times Record reports that the convention center is on pace to spend all of its reserve money by the spring. The state used to subsidize the convention center in Fort Smith and in other cities, leaving the communities to fund the centers themselves.
Voters on Tuesday turned away a 1 percent sales tax increase on prepared food that would have made up the funding for the center and covered other needs.
City officials are looking at a wide variety of cuts in various city functions to keep the center running.
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