06/12/1971 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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""II . G~ 7L12j71 II II I II Manager said Mr. Glen Cougill., . president .of the .Room .Tax..Allocation Conuilittee, was Ii Ii present at this, meeting and could answer questions. Ii - " I: Councilman Teague was concerned with the allocation to the Chamber of Commerce. He ' Ii felt the original intent had been for a percentage. Manager did not recall that this , ! . I, i: was the pohcy. , ' . i ~ I ii In answer to Mr. Teagtie, Manager said the Chamber received $15,000 in 1970-71 and $9,000 ' :' in 1969-70. Mr. Teague did not feel it was the intent of the people to allot this amount ,I ' 11 for Chamber promotion, but that it was for other purposes. ;: " i: :i In answer to Mr. Mohr's concern, Mr. Cougill said Gramarye Theater was denied on the Ii basis of a report that it was a profit-making corporation and filed as such. The infor- mation was received from a member of the committee. An interpre:tation of the ordinance " :i from the City Attorney was that the funds should be allocated only if the recipient of ' il the funds was somewhat of a public body . With this reasoning, a corporation, whether 4It I profit or non-profit, would not be really eligible. Mr. Mohr requested a ruling from the City Attorney whether a non-profit corporation which was primarily devoted to cultural activities would be eiigible to receive these tax monies. :' 'I Mrs. Campbell asked why Eugene Sympbnny request had been cut. They had requested more i I than the $1500 to meet their deficit. Mr.' Cougill said after a personal conversation with the finance director of the Symphony, he felt the $1500 would be adequate. The committee frowned upon starting a precedent of bailing organizations out because they fialed to meet their budgets. Mrs. Campbell felt the purpose of the room tax was to subsidize some of the arts. Mr. Cougill agreed and said many arts are being subsidized by this tax. The request for Eugene Symphony and several other cultural requests for 1970-71 have not yet been acted upon. He ,felt a sizable amount of the funds should be returned to the industry from which they came, which would come under tourist promotion. It was felt expansion of the tourist industry wbuld help the economy. There was further discussion of the amount of the fund accumulated and the percentage retained by the motel operators for'the~r collection. It was pointed out that they get 5% of the 3% tax for their collection service. In answer to Mr. Teague, Mr. Cougill explained that, although these funds go to the Chamber of Commerce, they are earmarked for tourist promotion, and this specific use is the only use which can be made of the funds. Paul Lansdowne, group hospitality chairman for the Chamber of Commerce, 'explained his function and experience in bringing conventions and other promotional events to the city, and that it had become necessary to have two persons involved in this work. For this reason, the budget had been increased. I There was further discussion concerning the increase in the request and its possible use. In answer to Mr. Mohr, City Manager said the room tax allocation committee is an advisory committee and the Council has authority to accept, reject or amend recommendations of the allocation committee. He agreed with Mr. Teague that other recreation uses,'such as tennis courts or golf courses, could be funded from this tax money. " ~ Laura Towle inquired if her group could request an allocation from these funds. City , Manager explained the procedure for making a request. I Dorothea Kenyon, Rt 6 Box 392, critized the Council for failure to inquire more carefully into allocation of these funds. She felt they should have representation on the committee. Paul Bessler, 1044~ West 8th, felt the desirability of a convention center should be ascertained before such large funds are allocated toward'one. In'response to a question -posed by Mr. Bessler, City Manager outlined the ballot measure adopted by the people of the city'of Eugene which provided funds for acquisition of recreational, cultura~ convention and tourist related services and promotion there&f. This is part of the charter and is a description of uses to which it can be put. I Mr. Teague said he personally would like to see a compromise where the full allocation to the Chamber of Commerce was not underwritten, even though he felt it was a good cause. Mr. Mohr suggested perhaps some items could be held in abeyance for further study. :: Mr. Williams pointed out that the federal government had found that tourisin>dealt with :; economic development, and had funded tourist promotion in some areas of high unemploy- if ment. This had proved very s uccess;fllili. He felt expenditures were very des irable for :1 the economic development of the area: !! " . e Ii Mrs. Campbell suggested postponement of a decision becaase she did not feel the Council '! :i ,i 7/12/71 - 6 ....