Minutes 05-26-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Yuhasz asked if they could find another$50-100,000 to put into the loan fund in this budget year to make sure and sustain the effort. Gary Shope said that the goal is for this to be a revolving loan fund. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he would like to flag this for further conversation regarding adding some money to the loan fund. The Board agreed to keep this program afloat. Visitor's Bureau This was on page 38-1. The budget for the district bureau now includes the Arts Commission. The budget is $1,078,000. This is an increase of $102,000 from last year's budget. It is still $165,000 below the budget of FY 2008-09. The Town of Chapel Hill is increasing its contribution to this fund from $150,000 to $200,000. The hotel industry has recovered from the recession, it seems. Laurie Paolicelli said that she is seeing a recovery in the tourism industry. She said that they are very much concerned with the development that is already here such as the hotels, attractions, and events. They have become the go-to for getting the word out about the community assets. Orange County hosts about two million visitors a year. There is some competition with Durham, Wake, and Alamance Counties. She anticipates an 11% increase in revenues this year. Commissioner Jacobs asked for an update on the occupancy taxes that Carrboro and Hillsborough are seeking and if there is any role for the elected officials of this Board to speak to the elected officials on the other boards about participating in the Visitor's Bureau. Frank Clifton said that, historically, the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County have had a hotel/motel tax of 3%. Orange County has historically contributed 100% of that revenue to fund the tourism operation. The legislation says that each entity has to contribute at least 15% of the revenues to promotion of tourism activities. The Towns of Chapel Hill and Hillsborough have not contributed their total share. Carrboro had a bill passed several years ago and now Hillsborough is getting a similar bill that requires the creation of a separate appointed board to oversee this money, which is to be spent entirely on tourism. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the bills had been passed yet and Laurie Paolicelli said no, but they are very collaborative with the economic nodes in each of the towns. Commissioner Yuhasz asked about the 100% expenditure of the funds the County receives and said that there have been some issues in the past with having adequate funding for restaurant inspections. He asked if there was some opportunity to take some portion of the money received to use for some other activities that would directly enhance the attractiveness of Orange County to visitors. Elections This was on page 7-1. The expenditure budget is approximately $690,000. The increase is $230,000 for this year, which is due to budgeting for three elections in 2011-12 versus only one election in 2010-11. Commissioner Jacobs said that the there is a national campaign to reduce the opportunities to vote in early voting. He asked if there was any data about who votes early in Orange County. He asked if there would be any cost savings by reducing early voting or if it would cost more. Tracy Reams said that there is a daily log of how many voters, so she could provide this information. Traditionally, the turnout is lower for early voting. Regarding the costs, she does not think it would save the County much if early voting were reduced.