09/14/2026
The full story of the Bossier EDD.
**I just finished typing and it is long but I wanted to share from the heart about the proposal and answer some questions that remain... Thank you to those that take the time to read...**
I’ve said a lot about the proposed Entertainment Development District over the last several days. Before I close this chapter and move on, I want to put the full history in one place.
Not just what the proposal eventually became, but where the idea came from, who worked on it, why we explored it, how it changed, what we heard from businesses and the public, and ultimately why I decided to pull it.
Because this project DID NOT begin with a tax.
In fact, when this started, there wasn’t even a plan.
JULY 2025 ... AN IDEA
In July of 2025, Bossier City officials, business owners in the area and other community stakeholders were shown a concept of what a truly cohesive entertainment district could potentially look like.
The idea was simple:
We have assets that most communities would love to have.
Casinos.
The Boardwalk.
The East Bank.
The riverfront.
Hotels.
Restaurants.
Publicly owned property.
Existing entertainment venues.
Major highway access.
And yet, for the most part, we were treating those assets individually instead of asking how they could work together to create an actual destination.
There was no EDD proposal.
There was no tax proposal.
There was no governing board.
There was no finished plan.
There was simply a question:
"Could Bossier do a better job leveraging all of these assets together?"
I picked up the ball from there.
SUMMER 2025
The Bossier Chamber of Commerce, the MPC and several of my colleagues began looking at the possibilities with me.
And I mean ALL OF THEM.
What incentives were available?
What could be done through zoning?
What could be accomplished through federal programs?
Could grants play a role?
Could the City simply invest General Fund money?
Could private businesses fund improvements?
Could we create a public-private partnership?
Could an economic development district work?
At that stage, I wasn't committed to an EDD.
I was committed to figuring out what tools were available.
AUGUST 2025
In August of 2025, I met with Mike Busada of Butler Snow.
Mike is one of the foremost economic development and public finance attorneys working in Louisiana.
His work has included major projects involving Meta, SpaceX, Amazon, Buc-ee’s in Ruston and numerous economic development districts and financing structures throughout the state.
I wanted someone who understood these tools at a level far beyond what I did.
We sat down and walked through essentially every economic development mechanism that Bossier could potentially use.
What was legal?
What was practical?
What had worked elsewhere?
What hadn't?
What structures could actually make Bossier more competitive?
That last question was important.
Because one of the hard lessons I learned during this process is that economic development is competitive.
Cities compete.
Parishes compete.
States compete.
And incentives matter.
Bossier has missed opportunities over the years involving projects that could have represented hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in private investment because we were not always willing or positioned to utilize tools like economic development districts and other incentive structures that competing communities were willing to use.
You can dislike that reality.
I don't particularly like all of it either.
But pretending the competition doesn't exist doesn't make Bossier more competitive.
I did not want us to continue losing opportunities simply because another community was willing to put more tools on the table than we were.
OCTOBER 2025
By October, the concept had progressed enough that I presented it to then Chief Administrative Officer Amanda Nottingham.
Amanda listened to the proposal and gave me some advice that ultimately improved the entire process.
She essentially said:
This has become an economic development project. Let the people who do economic development every day take it from here.
So Rocky Rockett with the Greater Bossier Economic Development Foundation and Bump Skaggs with the Coordinating & Development Corporation became heavily involved.
The challenge to them was not:
“Go create an EDD.”
It was:
"Take the concept, study the tools available, build something that could actually work, and bring it back to us."
And for roughly the next three months, that is exactly what they did.
They researched.
They studied other communities.
They worked through financing mechanisms.
They looked at boundaries.
They looked at incentives.
They studied governance.
They looked at infrastructure needs.
They began turning an idea into an actual economic development strategy.
EARLY 2026
Once there was something tangible enough to discuss, meetings began.
In February, we met with the casinos and laid out the concept.
From there came meetings and conversations with Bass Pro Shops, Boardwalk management, East Bank property owners, restaurants, retailers, developers, small businesses and others throughout the proposed district.
And the reaction was not unanimous.
Some people loved the concept and told us to move forward.
Others liked the overall goal but saw problems with specific pieces.
Others didn't like it at all.
And some people offered suggestions that materially changed the proposal.
That was exactly what those meetings were supposed to accomplish.
And we learned a lot in all of those conversations...
This was also the point where I began seeing how difficult a true public-private partnership can be.
Nearly everyone agreed that they wanted more investment in the area.
The disagreement often came when the conversation turned to "who would control it."
Some stakeholders wanted substantially more control over how the money would be spent.
Some private interests wanted influence over what types of businesses could locate nearby or how City owned land could be developed.
Some did not want public incentives used to recruit businesses that might compete with businesses already there.
Others opposed creating a new revenue source but simultaneously wanted the City to spend MILLIONS of existing taxpayer dollars on improvements benefiting the district.
That became one of the most fascinating parts of the process for me.
Everybody wanted investment.
Everybody wanted growth.
Everybody wanted improvements.
But there were dramatically different opinions about who should pay for it, who should control it, and who should benefit from it.
Quite frankly, I was surprised at times by how quickly the discussion over a public-private partnership could turn into a fight over control of the money.
That is precisely why I remained committed to a structure where no single private business, industry or government entity controlled the entire process.
If public money was involved, the public needed a voice.
If private businesses were generating the revenue, they deserved a voice.
But nobody should own the district.
And the proposal kept changing...
Over the following months, we continued meeting.
More than 100 individual or small group conversations ultimately took place surrounding the concept.
Businesses within the proposed district were notified by mail three separate times.
We held three public meetings.
At one of those meetings, we stayed until approximately 11:00 at night answering questions and working through concerns.
And we changed the proposal.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Project lists changed.
The governance structure changed.
The proposed uses of the revenue changed.
Oversight provisions changed.
Audit requirements were discussed.
Representation changed.
Ideas that people brought us that made the proposal better were incorporated whenever legally and practically possible.
That is what I believed public engagement was supposed to look like.
The EDD was taking shape but it was only one piece.
Another thing that has been lost in much of the recent discussion is that this was never solely an EDD project.
While all of this was occurring, other pieces of the economic development strategy were moving forward.
The East Bank has been designated as a Cultural District but never utilized the opportunities and grants that came with that.
Plans were put into place to address that.
The census tract was positioned for Opportunity Zone 2.0, providing another tool for attracting private capital.
That has been signed by the Governor and sent to DC. We will know early December 2026 if the Trump Administration officially gives it that designation.
The area was rezoned B-4, providing developers significantly more flexibility and potentially lowering construction costs while allowing more usable square footage.
The City began its new Comprehensive Plan and Unified Development Code process, which includes making redevelopment of aging commercial areas easier.
Those things survive regardless of what happened to the EDD.
And then the question everyone has asked.... WHY AND EDD?
Eventually, after studying the options, an EDD became the preferred financing mechanism.
And there was a reason for that.
The City has needs everywhere.
Police.
Fire.
Roads.
Drainage.
Property standards.
Potholes.
Parks.
Public works.
Neighborhoods.
The General Fund has to serve the entire city.
So the question became:
Should taxpayers throughout Bossier continually fund millions of dollars in improvements inside one commercial and entertainment district?
Or could we create a mechanism where economic activity generated inside that district helped finance improvements inside that district?
That was the philosophy behind the EDD.
So what did we actually propose?
The final concept involved two districts generally encompassing the East Bank, Boardwalk and casino areas.
The proposed assessment was up to 2% on certain food, beverage, retail and entertainment transactions within the district.
It was not a property tax.
The projected revenue was approximately $1.5 million to $1.8 million annually.
And by law those dollars would have stay within the district for reinvestment.
Contrary to some media reports, the money could not be transferred to the General Fund.
The money could have been used for things such as:
Public parking.
Infrastructure.
Streetscape improvements.
Beautification.
Events.
Marketing.
Public safety enhancements.
Entertainment programming.
Pedestrian improvements.
And other projects designed to attract people and private investment into the area.
And the biggest issue... The plan included a new tax.
I have never tried to hide that.
It did.
And as a Republican and someone who generally believes government should take as little money from people as reasonably possible, that required me to think seriously about whether the policy made sense.
But governing sometimes requires looking beyond slogans.
The economic theory behind these districts is admittedly counterintuitive:
An additional tax can, under the right circumstances, increase total gross sales by generating money that is continually reinvested into making the area more desirable.
More visitors.
More events.
Better infrastructure.
More private investment.
More restaurants.
More businesses.
More economic activity.
A larger economic pie.
We didn't simply assume that would happen.
We studied communities where similar tools had already been used.
West Monroe.
Ruston.
Natchitoches.
Other districts across Louisiana.
We also examined models outside Louisiana and spoke with communities in Texas.
Not every district is identical and no government program is guaranteed to succeed.
But this concept was not invented in a conference room at Bossier City Hall.
It has been used across the State and the Country and proven that if run correctly... IT WORKS.
THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE MODEL...
One of the parts I was most excited about was the governing structure.
Rather than City government simply collecting the money and deciding how to spend all of it, the concept evolved into a public-private partnership involving government, small businesses and the casino industry.
To my knowledge, the structure we were developing would have been among the first of its kind for an EDD in Louisiana.
The board would have operated publicly.
Meetings would have been subject to open meetings requirements.
Finances would have been audited yearly.
And expenditures would ultimately have been visible through the City's Bossier Checkbook transparency initiative that is getting started.
The goal was accountability without allowing government, or one powerful private interest, to control everything.
On September 1, the Council considered the first step in the formal process.
This is another point I want preserved accurately.
The September 1 vote did not impose a tax.
It began the legal process of establishing the district and its boundaries.
There were still multiple steps remaining.
The creation ordinance required another reading.
Any proposed tax required its own ordinance and separate votes.
The Cooperative Endeavor Agreement establishing the final governing relationship had not been finalized.
There were still months of public discussion and multiple Council votes remaining before anything could have taken effect.
Then everything changed...
During the following days, opposition grew rapidly.
A handful of business owners organized against the proposal.
The narrative shifted quickly.
Some businesses and individuals who had previously been supportive became opposed.
People who had never attended the previous meetings or been involved in the months of conversations began hearing about the proposal for the first time.
Political opposition intensified.
And within a matter of days, it became obvious that the proposal no longer had the support necessary to move forward successfully.
At that point, I had a decision to make.
Dig in because I still believed the policy could work?
Or recognize that regardless of how much work had gone into it, a public-private partnership cannot function without enough trust and support from both the public and private sectors?
I chose the latter.
I pulled the proposal from the September 22 agenda.
DO I THINK THE IDEA WAS WRONG?
No.
I still believe the objective was right.
I believe Bossier has enormous untapped potential in this area.
I believe our casinos, Boardwalk, Bass Pro Shops, East Bank and the riverfront should complement one another instead of functioning as isolated assets.
I believe economic development is competitive.
I believe Bossier has to be willing to use economic development tools if we expect to compete with communities that already do.
I believe recurring reinvestment into a commercial district is more sustainable than continually asking the General Fund to fund projects there.
And I believe we eventually have to answer the question that started this entire process:
"What do we want this part of Bossier City to become?"
But good policy requires more than believing an idea can work.
It requires enough public trust and political support to actually implement it successfully.
That wasn't there anymore.
So lets talk about transparency...
I've heard quite a bit about transparency throughout this debate.
I think the history speaks for itself.
Businesses were engaged months before an ordinance appeared.
Three rounds of mailed notifications went out.
Three public meetings were held.
I do want to clarify one point about those meetings, because there has been commentary about why they were not broadly advertised as public town halls.
Those meetings were intentionally designed primarily for the businesses and stakeholders who would have been directly affected by the district. The purpose was to sit down with the business community, share the vision we were considering, explain how the concept might work and get direct feedback while the proposal was still being developed.
They were not closed meetings. A number of citizens who had heard about them attended, participated and asked questions.
But they were never intended to be the final community wide public forums.
Those broader public forums were planned for the next phase of the process, once the proposal had advanced far enough that we had a more developed product to present to the entire community. We simply never reached that point because I withdrew the proposal before those forums occurred.
More than 100 individual and group discussions occurred.
The plan repeatedly changed because of public feedback.
And even after the first Council vote, multiple additional public votes remained before anything could have been implemented.
If I have one criticism of how we handled transparency, it may actually be that we tried to build the airplane while everyone watched us assemble it.
We showed people ideas before they were finished.
We publicly debated options.
We allowed people to influence the proposal while it was still being written.
That is messy.
A finished plan is much easier to explain than an evolving one.
But I would still rather show people an unfinished proposal and allow them to help shape it than walk into a Council meeting with a finished product and tell everyone the decisions have already been made.
Transparency does not mean everybody agrees.
It means people have an opportunity to participate before the final decisions are made.
They did.
So what all did I learn?
I've learned a tremendous amount over the last year.
About economic development.
About public-private partnerships.
About how businesses view government.
About how government views business.
About incentives.
About political pressure.
About communication.
And about leadership.
Most importantly, I've learned that economic development is rarely simple.
Real economic development involves land, infrastructure, incentives, financing, competition, private investment, risk and compromise.
Sometimes saying no to an incentive saves taxpayer money.
Sometimes saying no means the investment, and the jobs that come with it, simply goes somewhere else.
The responsibility of elected officials is figuring out which is which.
So where do we go from here?
The EDD proposal is not moving forward at this time.
But many of the things created during this process remain.
Opportunity Zone 2.0 remains.
The Cultural District remains.
The B-4 zoning remains.
The Comprehensive Plan and UDC rewrite continue.
The City still owns significant property in the area.
Private developers remain interested.
And the need to create a more cohesive entertainment destination has not disappeared.
I don't believe the answer is to do nothing.
Maybe the next idea looks completely different.
Maybe it happens incrementally.
Maybe private investment takes the lead.
Maybe another funding mechanism emerges.
Maybe five years from now someone develops a better version of what we were trying to accomplish.
If so, I hope they do.
Because this was never about me being right.
It was about trying to move Bossier City forward.
Sometimes leadership means pushing an idea.
Sometimes leadership means defending an unpopular idea you believe is right.
And sometimes leadership means recognizing that even if the destination still makes sense, the road you selected isn't going to get you there.
I'm proud of the work that went into this.
I'm thankful for Rocky Rockett, Bump Skaggs, Shane Cheatham, GBEDF, the Bossier Chamber, MPC, our City staff, the businesses, casinos, property owners, developers, community leaders and residents who gave countless hours of their time to it.
I'm also thankful for people who disagreed with me in good faith.
You learn very little from people who always tell you you're right.
I would rather attempt something ambitious, put it in front of the public, have it scrutinized, learn from it and change course than become so afraid of criticism that we stop proposing big ideas altogether.
The EDD as currently written is finished.
The work of making Bossier better isn't.
And neither is my belief in what this part of our city can become.
I love Bossier City.
I love serving my community.
I love debating ideas.
And I love our potential.
Bossier's brightest days are still ahead.
And for anyone wanting to pit council members against each other... You won't win. We are a team. We may sometimes disagree but at the end of the day we will prevail together. Because we know that we are better together.
With All The Love In The World,
Chris Smith
