Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-25-04 Finance Com Minutes - Fee WaiversFINANCE COMMITTEE OF DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL Monday, October 25, 2004 Council Chambers Minutes Attending: Mr. Keenan, Chair Mrs . Boring Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher Mr. McCash Ms. Brautigam Ms. Grigsby Ms. Puskarcik Ms. Gibson Mr. Keenan called the meeting to order and noted that tonight's meeting agenda includes future fee waivers for the Dublin Arts Council Arts & Music Festival, as well as general policy discussion regarding fee waivers for special events. Ms. Grigsby stated that at the Committee meeting of July 6, there was discussion of fee waivers for Sundays at Scioto and the Arts & Music Festival. A decision was then made by City Council to grant permanent fee waivers for the Sundays at Scioto concerts and to grant a fee waiver for the 2004 Arts & Music Festival. The Finance Committee was directed to review future waivers for the Arts & Music Festival. There was a request about what other communities do in this regard, and material was included in the Friday packet about this inquiry. In addition, the 2003 financial report from the DAC was received by the City today and distributed tonight to Council. The materials provided to Council in July were again provided. The discussion at that time was whether the City would want to continue to grant fee waivers for City services for the Arts & Music Festival into the future. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher stated that she believes that only the DAC has requested a waiver of fees related to a special event. The waivers for the usage of the DCRC are handled within the fee ordinance guidelines. Other events are held in the City, such as the Arthritis Classic Auto Show, and have obtained monies from the hotel/motel tax revenues for City services until recent times when the revenues have declined. These other organizations now must fund the City services costs in other ways and did not come forward to request waivers. In discussing the DAC request, it is important to discuss the broader policy issues. Once a permanent waiver is granted, then the other organizations having events here and from which the City benefits in terms of hoteUmotel tax revenues will potentially come forward to request waivers or subsidies. While the City has the right to discriminate, it should cite very specific reasons why it would absorb the cost of City services for something such as the Arts Festival but not for other activities. The information provided by staff shows that there are $70,000 plus that are essentially reimbursed to the City for the services the City requires for the various events. Some portion of that could potentially be lost, depending upon the policy adopted. Ms. Puskarcik added that years ago, the bed tax grants were viewed as "seed money" for events - designed to help initiate events at the outset. The events were expected to become self-supporting. If the fees were too high for an organization's budget, staff could help them identify another venue where service fees would be less, i.e., moving the Frog Jump from Historic Dublin to Coffman Finance Committee October 25, 2004 Page 2 Park. In looking at the spreadsheet, it shows the events that would require City services. It outlines the events, their sponsoring organization, and the costs for police, streets and utilities, grounds and facilities, and recreation services. The total is about $76,000. If other entities request fee waivers such as the DAC has done, that is a potential cost to be absorbed by the City. Under miscellaneous services, it lists things provided such as sandwich board signs, cones, barricades, etc. There are some inconsistencies for events that have long been in the community and have a relationship with the City, i.e., Kiwanis Easter Egg hunt. For the Showmobile, the ordinance allows the City Manager to waive up to $750 rental fees and this is done administratively. Mrs. Boring recalled that most of the Showmobile waivers have been for neighboring communities. She asked how the City deals with the Frog Jump event. She recalls that the City has provided the services. Ms. Puskarcik responded that Recreation Services works with the Frog Jump on this partnership arrangement. They did receive a grant for City services in the amount of up to $3,000 through the bed tax application. Mr. McCash asked for clarification -was funding provided to the Arthritis Foundation auto show? Ms. Grigsby responded that in the past, bed tax grants were given to them for City services. Last year, the grant was minimal, due to the restricted funds available. Mrs. Boring noted that she is very supportive of the fee waivers for the Sundays at Scioto. Many other events charge fees to participants or sell items, but this event does not. Every community has some type of community event such as this. She does believe that the event is overstaffed by the City resulting in higher fees. The Frog Jump is a traditional event for Dublin and something unique to Dublin. Mr. Keenan commented that a permanent fee waiver was granted to the DAC for the Sundays at Scioto concerts. Tonight's discussion focuses on the Arts & Music Festival future fee waivers. Mr. McCash commented that waiving the fees for the Festival is essentially an investment in Historic Dublin by the City. It brings a tremendous number of people to the area and an economic infusion into the historic area. He would support continuing this event support in a unique area of Dublin. Mr. Keenan stated that the DAC is experiencing difficult financial times, based on review of the financial statements. They must decide whether to continue the Arts & Music Festival. The Gelpi mansion is a great facility for them. What has happened is that they have added staff and the programming has grown tremendously. The reality of all of that programming has had budget impacts. The Arts & Music Festival is only a small issue -there are some larger issues they will be facing going forward. He believes that the DAC Board has some decisions to make, and what Council decides regarding the fee waivers will have impact on their later decisions. Even if Council waives the City services fees for the Arts & Music Festival, it may not take place, given the financial situation. It is important to understand this. It is likely not surprising to many. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher stated that Mr. McCash serves as Council rep to the DAC Board, along with Chris Curry. In some respects, City Council needs to consider viewing the Arts Council Finance Committee October 25, 2004 Page 3 differently than some other non profits in the City or outside of the City that stage events. The DAC is housed in a building owned by the City, and 25 percent of the hoteUmotel tax revenues are invested in the DAC. If the DAC has serious financial problems, they need to be looking at other financial issues instead of this particular waiver. For example, while the festival may have brought 5,000 people to the district and may have been a very positive day for the for-profit vendors, how did it help the DAC reach their larger goals? There should be some research that dictates their ultimate decisions. She noted concern over the fact that the DAC is suggesting that they are having serious financial problems. They are taking a very long time to hire a new Director, and the City was not able to secure a financial report from them. In fact, it only arrived today after it was requested for several months. They are a public entity housed in a public building and she is concerned that Council's representatives should be providing more reporting about what is occurring at the DAC. Similar to what happened with the DCVB, the DAC will want the City to make up the financial shortfall Other non profits in a similar situation would reduce staff, raise money, or reduce expenses in some manner. Mr. Keenan stated that the City has been funding the DCVB with an $80,000 grant over and above their 25 percent share of hoteUmotel tax, and they are requesting similar funding support into the future. The request from the DAC for a waiver of City service fees in a small amount seems more of an investment for the community. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher clarified that she is a strong supporter of the arts, but the City needs to have all of the facts for this discussion. The City also pays for the maintenance of the public arts projects throughout the City. Mr. Keenan responded that there is no question that this is a good arrangement for the DAC - in fact, it is good for everyone. The facility is second to none. The discussion is off track, as only the waiver is being discussed. Obviously, discussion of the entire issue of future funding support for the DAC needs to take place. Mrs. Boring commented that there was discussion in the past regarding the 25 percent of hotel/motel tax allocated to the DAC and the fact that Council did not support providing additional funding beyond that 25 percent. How the DCVB is supported is a separate topic. Both organizations will claim that their funding helps to support economic development in the City. If the DAC does have a funding crisis, how does it affect Council's decision about a permanent waiver for the festival? Mr. Keenan stated that the DAC needs some direction in order to plan for the future. Mr. McCash had previously suggested capping the City fees to be waived at $5,000. Earlier tonight, he spoke with Mr. Lecklider and he said he could support a subsidy to be capped at $5,000 into the future. The DAC could then decide whether they want to continue the event in the future, based on the City's contribution for services at a cap of $5,000. Rather than eliminate the fee waiver altogether, he would prefer that the Committee recommend a reasonable number for the future Arts & Music event City service fees. Recommending nothing would bring objections from the merchants in Historic Dublin, based upon the letters he has distributed tonight about the importance of this event to their business. Finance Committee October 25, 2004 Page 4 Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher asked for clarification -would the $5,000 be the maximum amount to be waived for City services in the future, with the condition that the event remain in Historic Dublin? If they should move the event from Historic Dublin, then the fee waiver would not meet Council's goal. Mr. Keenan stated that he would prefer to have some level of fee waiver recommended to Council. Ms. Puskarcik added that there is some discussion taking place about other events in Historic Dublin neat year, such as a bike or run. These groups want to take advantage of the energy and good things happening in the district. Mrs. Boring stated that she recalls that a bike race was proposed for the district atone time, but they wanted a large subsidy from the City to stage it there. Ms. Puskarcik commented that the sponsor of the race being discussed would be a sponsor only if the event is in Historic Dublin. The group is thinking of starting the event in Historic Dublin and routing it to Plain City. Mrs. Boring asked about the 5K run that preceded the Irish Festival -how was that handled in terms of funding? Ms. Puskarcik stated that this was a City sponsored event and not an outside sponsored event. It was well received and had a good turnout. The merchants indicated that the sales that evening were record breaking for them. Staging events in Historic Dublin is costly due to logistical problems. Mr. Keenan stated that a big issue to be addressed is parking, which was brought up in several of these letters. Any successful historic district is dependent upon adequate parking; in Oxford, Ohio, they have athree-story parking garage which meets the needs. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher commented that Worthington does not have a parking garage, yet she always manages to find parking along the street. Ms. Puskarcik has raised an interesting point, however. A large part of the discussion relates to Historic Dublin and trying to generate energy for the district. If that is really the primary focus and the DAC is just one of the entities staging events there, it seems logical to set aside a sum of money to be used exclusively to offset costs for City services for special events that are sponsored by other entities and staged in Historic Dublin. This would make more sense than allocating dollars to single entities, such as the DAC. This would show City support for Historic Dublin in helping to generate energy in the district. The City Manager could then designate a department to manage those funds and oversee the application process. Mr. Keenan stated that this would give an opportunity for organizations to apply for funding and provides consistency versus granting fee waivers. It is another way to address the problems. Ms. Grigsby commented that in regard to setting aside funding for this purpose, it could still be housed within the hoteUmotel tax funds. For those years that there are sufficient dollars, a sum of $20,000 could be set aside for Historic Dublin events and it would still come through the Finance Committee as an application process. That would still provide oversight by Council. Finance Committee October 25, 2004 Page 5 Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher stated that if the monies were not available in a particular year, Council would have to commit to funding this from other sources. Many activities may bring revenues to the City in the form of hoteUmotel taxes, which would offset the expense. Ms. Puskarcik commented that the City has sponsored the Dub Crawl in Historic Dublin and relocated Holly Days to Historic Dublin, in keeping with the commitment to bring people to the district. Mr. Keenan summarized that there are two separate issues being discussed. While it is worthwhile to give emphasis to the downtown district with staging of events, tonighYs discussion is to focus on the DAC Arts & Music Festival fee waiver for City services. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher stated that her proposal for establishing a fund for supporting the events in the historic district would be the way to address this matter as well. Mr. Keenan stated that this is a discussion for another night and involves decisions about the application process, the administration of the program, etc. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher stated that Ms. Grigsby has suggested that it be administered in the same manner as the hoteUmotel grants are handled now -funds would be set aside within the hotel/motel tax monies and organizations could apply for such funds for events in historic Dublin. Mr. Keenan asked what discretionary monies are available in that fund. Ms. Grigsby stated that each year in the budget process, the commitments are reviewed for funding, including the DAC, the DCVB and Special Events. Mr. Keenan suggested that a portion of the Special Events budget could be allocated for the support of the historic Dublin events to help promote business. Ms. Puskarcik stated that this has already occurred in the events the City has sponsored in the district. Ms. Grigsby stated that part of the issue relates to the decreases in the hotel/motel tax funds in the past couple of years. This has resulted in limited funds for grant applications. This year, due to the success of the Irish Festival, that fund is in good shape. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher stated that there were some multi-year commitments for organizations such as DYA for park improvements, which tied up some monies. Mr. Keenan added that the DCVB is also coming back with requests for funding after their current five-year grant expires. Mr. Keenan stated that there is a short time remaining until the town meeting is scheduled to begin. He asked if Council would like to give direction at this time. Finance Committee October 25, 2004 Page 6 Mrs. Boring stated that the Mayor's idea has some merit, as she wants the various entities, whether the DCVB or the DAC to live within their budgets instead of returning to the City for additional funding. In terms of the Arts Festival, the Dublin Women's Club had previously sponsored this type of event, which they could no longer handle due to the expense. She wonders how valuable an event this is and whether it could be replaced with another event in historic Dublin if the fee support were available. She is undecided at this point and not certain if she wants to permanently set aside $5,000 in the form of a fee waiver for the DAC when the monies could be used for something else. Mr. Keenan asked if Mr. McCash had any comments to add. Mr. McCash stated that while the Mayor's idea has merit, from strictly a fiscal planning standpoint, the DAC would have a difficult time without knowing from year to year whether they could receive the grant in order to stage this event. He does not see that a bike run would bring in the type of business that an Arts Festival would bring in. Mayor Chinnici-Zuercher pointed out that the DAC is guaranteed 25 percent of the hoteUmotel tax. Other non profits do not operate this way, and each year must find ways to secure the monies to operate their organizations. Most non-profit organizations would be very happy with the 25 percent share. If she were to vote in favor of $5,000 for this event, it would not be on the basis of supporting historic Dublin. Rather, she would do this on the basis that there should always be an arts festival in Dublin and the City is willing to fund it in the form of $5,000 for City services. She would view historic Dublin as a bigger issue of doing more events to help generate activity, business and camaraderie there. Mr. Keenan stated that there does not seem to be consensus and he will bring this to Council for further discussion. He does support the idea of a sum of money to be used to support events in historic Dublin as discussed. He would like to see Council endorse some level of funding for the Arts Festival so that the DAC can plan for the future. Perhaps a compromise can be reached during the Council discussion. There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Deputy Clerk of Council