Agenda - 09-05-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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13 1 "The Board will reinstate its basic membership in both the Chapel Hill — Carrboro 2 Chamber and the Hillsborough —Orange County Chamber, and suspend all other payments 3 from County entities until the Manager is able to identify all the various County funders; and that 4 going forward, the County will locate all Chamber funding in the Manager's Office, and that the 5 Board asks the Manager to report back at the first meeting in September." 6 7 Commissioner Rich asked if Commissioner Jacobs could define "basic funding." 8 Commissioner Jacobs said he is suggesting $8,500 to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro 9 Chamber of Commerce and $1,000 to the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber; and have all 10 other departmental dues suspended to both chambers until further analysis is completed. 11 Commissioner Burroughs said she is concerned about the Visitors Bureau (VB) dues. 12 Commissioner Rich said the VB is not funded by any tax dollars, but is funded by 13 occupancy taxes. She said it is a separate board, and runs as a separate entity. 14 Commissioner Jacobs said he thought about including the VB in the motion, but he 15 assumed the Manager will examine what the VB is paying, and how that relates to the County's 16 payments. He said Chapel Hill is the only town that contributes to the VB, and it is purposely 17 not a member of the Chamber. 18 Chair Dorosin said if the Board says no now, and the dues are due, entities can join 19 later on. 20 Commissioner Rich said the VB board voted on its budget without contributing to the 21 Chambers. 22 Commissioner Burroughs asked if this was a new practice for the VB. 23 Commissioner Rich said yes, this was a policy change for the VB. She said she can get 24 more information, and that the VB did not always contribute to the Chamber, then it did, and 25 now does not again. She said that information can be added to the report. 26 Commissioner Price said her concern is she does not like the idea of double dipping, 27 and she does not want to make a decision without knowing the consequences, and she is 28 concerned about the process. She asked if the Board can even entertain the budgets of other 29 departments. 30 Bonnie Hammersley said the Board can absolutely look at these budgets, and the 31 Economic Development department uses general fund monies to pay its dues. She said all 32 departments are general fund departments, except for the VB. 33 Chair Dorosin said his concern is that the County is unknowingly paying for things. He 34 said it is unclear what services are being received in return, and this needs to be analyzed. 35 Commissioner Burroughs asked Travis Myren if he could clarify that the bulk of the 36 money being paid was from the VB. 37 Travis Myren said about $10,000 of the total amount is from the VB, as well as some 38 other sponsorship that the VB paid. 39 Commissioner Rich said the VB did not vote to stop sponsoring, only to stop paying 40 membership dues to the Chamber. She said the VB will be a Chamber member if it can be 41 included in the one membership fees paid by the County, as opposed to departmental 42 payments. 43 Commissioner Burroughs said the Board has made a mountain out of a molehill. 44 45 VOTE: (on Commissioner Jacobs') alternative motion — $9,500 paid, with all other dues 46 suspended pending a report from the Manager, and all future payments come through the 47 Manager's office. 48 49 Ayes, 3 (Commissioner Jacobs, Chair Dorosin, Commissioner Marcoplos); Nays, 4 50 (Commissioner Burroughs, Commissioner Rich, Commissioner McKee, Commissioner Price)