Town of Blowing Rock
Tourism
Development Authority
Minutes – May
16, 2007
Member Lynn Drury was out of town.
Call to Order
Chairperson Keele called the meeting to order and welcomed the Authority members. He stated the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposed FY 2007-08 TDA Budget (Attachment #1). He also advised that a public hearing on the proposed FY 2007-08 Budget would be held at the June 5, 2007 TDA meeting.
Proposed Budget - Review
Chairman Keele opened discussions on the proposed budget. Ex-officio Member Hildebran began by reviewing the town infrastructure portion of the proposed FY 2007-08 TDA Budget and the cumulative town infrastructure funding total over a four-year period (Attachment #2). He advised that, including the proposed FY 2007-08 appropriations, over $912,000 had been transferred to the Town for infrastructure – sidewalks, paving, beautification, parking, signage, and park maintenance.
The Authority stressed their continued support for additional downtown parking and downtown sidewalk improvements.
Executive Brown informed the Board that he would soon be preparing a bi-weekly or monthly newspaper article for the Blowing Rocket that would provide a positive update to the community on upcoming events, customer service initiatives and other TDA activities. He stated that each update would also provide a brief note on what the occupancy tax funding provides to the community.
Ex-officio Member Pierce then reviewed revenues for the proposed FY 2007-08 TDA Budget. She discussed the current TDA financial statement and outlined the TDA investment strategy and interest income earnings.
The Board discussed establishment of a policy or strategy to assist in the management of the TDA reserves or fund balance. The Board briefly reviewed their Fund Balance Policy, which dictates the commitment to maintain 50% of actual allocated occupancy tax revenues (2/3rd – TDA Promotions) from previous year in reserve. This reserve is intended to insure that the TDA meets personnel operating costs, debt service commitments and guards against the risk of not meeting budget projections.
After some discussion, it was the consensus of the Authority that the TDA fund balance be segregated into two classifications - one designated restricted (the 50% level reserve and used for items associated with the 2/3rd – TDA Promotions requirement) and one designated unrestricted. The unrestricted reserve would contain unspent revenues associated with lease income, interest income or miscellaneous income.
The Board then agreed to amend the proposed FY 2007-08 budget early in the fiscal year to satisfy funding commitments made during the current fiscal year. These FY 2006-07 carryover commitments would be funded from fund balance as to not effect the allocations made in the proposed FY 2007-08 operating budget. As a result of this action, Executive Director Brown advised he would provide several additional options on event/project support in FY 2007-08 for Authority consideration. (i.e. - providing support for weekday/weeknight bands in the park, providing support for parades, etc.)
The Authority recommended that Mr. Brown consider using the tagline – funding provided by Visit Blowing Rock in lieu of funding provided by the Blowing Rock TDA.
The Authority encouraged Executive Director Brown to continue to facilitate the coordination of all event providers in Blowing Rock. Vice-Chair Tarbutton and Member Pickett requested that a unified activity calendar be developed and forwarded to all lodging establishments outlining activities schedule for the week.
After some discussion, it was the consensus of the Authority that a line-item review of proposed expenditures was not needed due to the previous discussions held at the May 1st meeting.
With no
further questions, Chairperson Keele thanked the Authority for their work on
the proposed FY 2007-08 Budget.
Adjournment
Upon motion of Member Pickett and second by Vice-Chair Tarbutton, the Authority adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Motion unanimously approved.
______________________________
Scott E. Hildebran, Secretary
Attachment
#1 – FY 2007-08
Proposed Budget
#2 – FY 2007-08
Proposed Budget - Town Infrastructure Portion