A funding commitment action at the June 4 Bullhead City council meeting should kick start a bridge project that’s been stalled for months. Progress on the second bridge proposed to cross the Colorado River to Laughlin came to a halt late last year when some Nevada officials indicated Arizona should pay more for the project.
City manager Toby Cotter said Bullhead City and Laughlin are both handling the cost on each side of the river of connecting the transportation network to the bridge. He said actual construction of the bridge alone is pegged at $30-million.
Cotter said $21-million of federal funding is committed and that Nevada officials want to split the remaining $9-million with Bullhead City. Council member Mark Clark called it “extortion” for Nevada to make such a demand “at the 11th” hour, but he said the project is too important to quarrel any further.
“I am for the bridge and actually am for moving forward and directing the city manager to put together an IGA (Intergovernmental Agreement) with Clark County that would state that the maximum we would be on the hook for would be $4.5-million, maybe less if the bid prices come in lower,” Clark said. “That doesn’t preclude us from looking to address additional revenue sources to help us pay for this.”
Council member Tami Ring agreed.
“We need to make a decision, pull the trigger, do it,” Ring said. “We need a bridge.”
City manager Toby Cotter said Bullhead City would have to borrow the funding.
During the same meeting, the Council heard a plea for more funding from John Pynakker, President and CEO of the Bullhead City Area Chamber of Commerce. He asked the council to consider seeking voter approval to double the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) to generate more revenue for tourism promotion to help grow the local economy.
Pynakker said visitors using motels, RV parks and campsites pay the tax that is painless to local residents. He said the chamber is heavily dependent upon TOT generated revenue.
“The Chamber receives a sizable portion of that to support the Tourism Center, including staff as well as marketing the area outside our community, trying to lure tourists to Bullhead City where the city then sells itself,” Pynakker said. He said Bullhead City’s TOT rate is well below most other communities.
“We believe that the fair amount would be to move the rate from 2% to 4%,” he said. “That still leaves us significantly behind most areas but increases the city revenue significantly, allowing the city and the chamber to do more promoting of our beautiful city outside of the area.”
Council members did not respond to Pynakker because his comments came during the Call to the Public portion of the meeting, where they are limited in their ability to interact.
