Agenda - 09-16-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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14 1 Michael Talbert said the Board has had a policy over the years to recover indirect costs 2 or overhead for those departments that have other funding sources. He said this request would 3 be a policy decision for the Board to take. He said if the $48,000 was not charged, the Board 4 would also have to approve the money for advertising use. 5 Commissioner Price said this means the County charges the department rent that 6 comes back to the general fund. She would be in favor of giving this money to the ad 7 campaign. 8 Clarence Grier said this is an indirect cost, and the rent was charged just to cover the 9 cost of maintenance and upkeep of the building. 10 Commissioner Gordon said this is a policy change because the policy is in place for 11 other governments and departments. She said the Board would have to justify specifically why 12 the change was made for the Visitors Bureau. She said there may be a way the Visitors 13 Bureau is different. 14 Commissioner Rich said the Visitors Bureau is an economic driver that brings millions of 15 dollars of sales tax to the County. She said it is not right for a County department to be paying 16 rent to the County. She said none of the County's property taxes go to support the Visitors 17 Bureau. 18 Commissioner Gordon said that perhaps the rationale could be that the Visitors Bureau 19 is a County department, and that County departments should not have to pay rent. 20 Chair Jacobs said he would like to see a list of the County departments that are paying 21 direct and indirect costs. 22 Clarence Grier said the total is $438,000 for all departments. 23 Michael Talbert said it is only three departments, including: Emergency Services, Solid 24 Waste and the Visitors Bureau. 25 Chair Jacobs noted that the fund balance for the Visitors Bureau is not treated as 26 separate from the County fund balance. 27 Commissioner McKee said he agrees that an adjustment to the Visitors Bureau would 28 not automatically extend to the other two departments. He is in favor of doing this. He 29 encouraged the town partners to step up on this as well and give more. 30 Commissioner Price said the Visitors Bureau is under the division of economic 31 development, and they should not pay anyway. 32 Commissioner Rich said the next step was to talk to Hillsborough, Carrboro, and Chapel 33 Hill to ask for more support. 34 Chair Jacobs asked what the County contributes to the Visitor's Bureau. 35 Laurie Paolicelli said Orange County levies 3 percent occupancy tax and has given all of 36 its occupancy tax to the Visitors Bureau. 37 Commissioner Pelissier asked what percentage of the occupancy tax Chapel Hill 38 contributes. 39 Laurie Paolicelli said Chapel Hill contributes 18 percent. She said Carrboro and 40 Hillsborough currently contribute zero, but they have recently established legislation to levy 3 41 percent, and she believes they will work with the Visitors Bureau in the future. 42 Chair Jacobs said if the majority of the Board wants to waive rent, then it can be 43 counted toward Orange County's contribution. 44 Michael Talbert said the County contribution would not change, it would just be spent 45 differently. He said there are two components to the indirect cost; one is an actual overhead 46 plus the rent. He asked if the Board wants to eliminate half of this and charge 50 percent of 47 what would be normal under the indirect cost plan. 48 Chair Jacobs said that is all the Board was being asked to consider. 49 Chair Jacobs said Economic Development has a small staff, and the Board sees all of 50 the things they are working on. He said there is no one whose primary focus is business