Quick take
- Total: $1,178,000 for 2027, approved 6-0 after a meeting of about six hours, TXKtoday reported.
- Biggest awards: Texarkana Parks and Recreation, $257,000 across two requests; Intense Lineberry Productions, $211,500 for four concerts and a barbecue cook-off; Texarkana Arkansas Baseball Association, $136,500 for Ed Worrell Park; Arkansas Youth Expo, $77,000.
- Where the money comes from: the city's tax on Arkansas-side hotels and restaurants. Commissioners pressed applicants on how their events would fill hotel rooms.
- Not funded: a proposal for a city-run TV channel, plus three applicants who had no one present when called.
- The commission is hiring its first full-time executive director. Applications are due Oct. 23.
Texarkana, Ark.'s tourism money for next year has been handed out. The city's Advertising and Promotion Commission voted 6-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to award $1,178,000 in grants for 2027, TXKtoday reported. The meeting lasted about six hours as commissioners worked through what Chairman Ulysses Brewer called 38 applications.
The A&P Commission is funded by the city's tax on Arkansas-side hotels and restaurants. So commissioners kept asking how each event would bring in overnight visitors. Commissioner George Dodson asked nearly every presenter some version of that question, according to TXKtoday.
Who got the most
- Texarkana Parks and Recreation: $257,000 total, with $213,500 for general operations and $43,500 for the Terry Lee Rogers Recreation Center. The department had asked for about $385,000 for operations. That included infield material at Pondexter Sports Complex and a new crew truck.
- Intense Lineberry Productions: $211,500 for four concerts and a barbecue cook-off.
- Texarkana Arkansas Baseball Association: $136,500 for Ed Worrell Park, where the association's treasurer said the backstop netting is dry rotting.
- Arkansas Youth Expo: $77,000. The city manager wrote that this year's expo drew 5,600 people and sold 1,500 hotel rooms, TXKtoday reported.
Other awards include $81,500 across five Winner's Circle 4 events on Front Street and $42,000 across four events at Big Dam Water Park. The Texarkana Airshow got $37,500, Pickle Fest $31,000 and Main Street Texarkana $23,000. TXKtoday has the full list.
How they decided
Each of the six commissioners wrote down an amount for every request, TXKtoday reported. Staff averaged the figures, and the commission rounded each average up to the next $500. About $1.2 million was available. Commissioners also leaned on visitor estimates from the city's Placer AI location data. Some organizers said those numbers undercounted their crowds.
Missing financial statements were a problem throughout the meeting. Many applicants didn't send one. One commissioner said the requirement needs to be made clearer for the next round. A proposal to fund a city-run TV channel got nothing, and three applicants who had no one present when their names were called were not funded.
The commission is also hiring its first full-time executive director. Applications are due Oct. 23, with a target start date of Jan. 4, TXKtoday reported.