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A proposal to provide a local equine rehabilitation center with tourism funds first made at the end June was shot down in this past week’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BoMA) meeting.

The proposal, initially made by Alderman Bobbie Wilson, would allow the Tennessee Equine Rehabilitation Center to benefit from hotel tax funds allocated to non-profits.

At the June 26 meeting, Alderman Daniel Berry suggested moving the item to the next meeting in order to give the board more time to do research.

Alderman Kurt Glick made a motion to pass the ordinance in favor of the equine center, and Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Mathis seconded, but Berry spoke up before Mayor Ray Knowis could put the item to a vote.

“We postponed this last meeting, and some of the questions that we asked if we could get an accounting of approximately how many visitors [the equine center] had last year…I didn’t see any of that in our packets,” said Berry.

His concerns circled around the amount of visitors that the center brought in.

“I’ve got a couple of issues with this,” he said, “Number one, I do want to say that when you go to the Tennessee Secretary of State site and you pull up the center’s information, their charity status has expired.”

Berry argued that the expiration status of the center negated any true reason to provide city funds in support of the center. He said that the tourism tax is meant to bring business to the city to generate more revenue.

“We’re not in the business of making money except for our hotel-motel tax,” he said, “That is the state’s mandate for us. Something that I know the city does make money on and we know is tried and true are our sports targets and our youth sports.”

He suggested the city take the proposed funds and use them for targeting sports events and youth sports activities rather than investing in the equine center.

“Let’s take that one and a half percent, which would be roughly $4,000–maybe more–and instead of the equestrian center, we dedicate it to a sports grant,” Berry recommended.

Berry suggested that the funds from the potential grant could be used in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation department as well as the Tourism department to “go out and try to capture some of these larger baseball, softball, soccer tournaments.” He said that the amount of revenue from a two night tournament alone could really help the city.

Berry then made a motion to amend the resolution to go towards a sports grant instead of the equine center, with Knowis seconding.

“I would ask that we consider the benefit, as you’re suggesting, as opposed to the equine center,” said Knowis.

He asked Berry how many horses could potentially benefit from the equine center, and Berry mentioned that the center only had one horse currently. Berry pointed out that the money can’t be allocated just because it might benefit the equine center, because ultimately the reason for that money is to bring more people into Tullahoma. He conceded that 4-H could potentially bring in visitors, but also pointed out that “we don’t know.”

Wilson reiterated that 4-H and other activities related to the center could bring in tourists. Berry countered that none of those activities had started operating yet, and suggested they come back next year to present their data. Knowis then brought Berry’s amendment to a vote, but Glick spoke up.

“I just wanted to ask more details on what the proposal is to do the money,” he said. “How would it be used to attract tournaments?”

“My number one recommendation is that we work to make a grant. Manchester has a great grant that they are using to draw in tournaments,” replied Berry.

The amendment for the forming a sports grant passed, with Knowis, Berry, Mann and Mathis voting yes, and Glick and Wilson opposing.