Lexington, KY - Like most American cities, Lexington has ambitious dreams for its downtown - a remodeled Rupp Arena, an expanded convention center, an amphitheater, a water feature - all contributing to a vibrant, 46-acre, arts and entertainment district.
But updating Rupp Arena and enlarging the convention center alone could cost $250 million, one study suggests.
Paying for downtown improvements is always challenging, a point well understood by Commerce Lexington president and CEO Bob Quick.
"Every community has visions of what it wants to become and a list of attractions or investments that it believes would make it better," he said. "The difference becomes how communities are structured to handle the financing of those projects."
To begin the process, Lexington mayor Jim Gray will ask the general assembly, now in session, for about $20 million. Details about how the remainder of the funding will be handled haven't received much public discussion.
Meanwhile, 830 miles away in Oklahoma City, numerous expensive and ambitious public works projects are underway that will transform this middle-America city.
Oklahoma City is often remembered for the devastating 1995 act of domestic terrorism that resulted in the loss of 168 lives and destruction of its federal building. But now, Oklahoma City is getting noticed for how it is financing public projects.
It's called MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects) and is a limited-term, one-cent sales tax that began in April 2010 and ends in December 2017. This latest local voter-approved initiative is funding eight projects and is expected to raise about $777 million.
Among the eight public projects are a new downtown convention center to attract larger conventions and bring additional revenue to the local economy, a downtown rail-based streetcar system with six miles of track, a large downtown public park and several senior health-and-wellness centers.
Being funding with a limited term, one-cent sales tax, the Oklahoma City projects are expected to be built debt free.
MAPS 3, as it is known, is the city's third voter-approved tax initiative since 1993. Eric Wenger, Oklahoma City public works director, became a believer. "Prior to MAPS 1, downtown Oklahoma City was not the vibrant place it is today," Wenger said. "When I first started with the city, the thing you did after 5 p.m. was go home. There wasn't much activity or entertainment downtown."
The U.S. Conference of Mayors praises MAPS, saying: "Using a pay-as-you-go structure allowed Oklahoma City to build world-class facilities without the burden of debt for future generations and city leaders. Oklahoma City citizens made the historic decision to invest their own money in the city they called home."
Citizens have the option of voting for or against each new MAPS initiative. In fact, the first MAPS plan barely squeaked by at the ballot box.
Could a MAPS-like taxing plan pay for the public projects Lexington and other Kentucky cities envision but are not sure how to pay for? The answer is no - at least for now.
"The issue in Kentucky is that adding a new tax requires a constitutional amendment," stated Commerce Lexington's Quick. "From the people we talk to around the commonwealth, this is not a great era to come up with a new tax or taxing option. So what you're talking about is tax modernization, where you try to convince Kentuckians that we can have a different arrangement of tax options."
Quick feels that could occur in Kentucky in some form in the next two to four years.
As for a MAPS-like option: "I hear from people who say 'absolutely no way,' then I hear from other people who say it's the magical way to go forward," said Quick. "I think the reality is that the only way you change and add a new tax revenue option is with complete tax modernization."
New Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson is friends with Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and is familiar with MAPS.
He said the Kentucky League of Cities and the Kentucky Association of Counties have advocated local tax options for years, but the general assembly has shied away.
"I believe in local determination to give people a chance to vote on themselves additional revenue-generating mechanisms for specific projects that have a life to them, a sunset," said the lieutenant governor. "It's worked in communities like Oklahoma City and also in Jacksonville, Fla., but that was not the way the founders of the commonwealth saw it at the time."
Abramson, recently named by Gov. Steve Beshear to lead a commission on tax reform in Kentucky, said more Kentucky mayors and county judges want the right to put options on the ballot in their communities, whether for parks, roads, bridges or ball fields.
He isn't sure anything significant will occur in the current legislative session.
"I have not had a conversation with the governor on that issue," he said. "The governor has said that over the next year or so he will develop a game plan for tax modernization. There is a lot on the table when you talk about modernizing the tax code, and that [local tax option] could very well be part of the discussion."