Finance Committee

City of Roswell Finance Committee Thursday, July 3, 2014, 8:00 a.m. City Hall Conference Room Committee Members present: Caleb Grant, Chairman Art Sandoval, Councilor Jason Perry, Councilor Committee Members absent: None Other Elected Officials present: None Staff Present: Stacye Hunter Monica Garcia Mike Mathews Others present: Paula Grieves Scott Fureiniti Ann Baker Lorual Peschlea Lendell Nolan Perry Toles Jessica Kirk Larry Connelly The meeting was called to order at 8:07 a.m. by Chairman Grant. Committee members Caleb Grant, Jason Perry and Art Sandoval were present, which represented a quorum. Councilor Sandoval moved to approve the May 27 & June 5, 2014 minutes. Councilor Perry was the second, a voice vote was unanimous and the motion carried. Regular Items: 1. Lodger’s Tax Request – Pecos Valley Potter’s Guild 33rd Annual Art Sale – November 14 – 16, 2014 Ms. Garcia noted the Occupancy Tax Board’s recommendation for funding in the amount of $1,000 for this event to be awarded on a reimbursement basis. Ms. Kirk was there to present the request. Ms. Kirk 1 informed the committee that the event is a juried art show where there are 56 booth spaces available with approximately 75 to 100 artists. There are not only local artists who attend there are artists from around the region as well. Last year we had vendors from New Mexico and Texas as well as other areas. There was a challenge in the previous year to get completed surveys. This year they will used a combined survey/raffle card to get people to fill out the surveys. After further discussion Councilor Sandoval moved to recommend to the full City Council the Lodger’s Tax funding in the amount of $1,000 be provided for the Pecos Valley Potters’ Guild 33rd Annual Art Sale, Councilor Perry seconded, and it passed unanimously. 2. Lodger’s Tax Funding Request – 4th Annual Xcel Energy’s Tour de Ocho Millas – Sept. 13, 2014 Ms. Garcia noted the Occupancy Tax Board’s recommendation for funding in the amount of $2,000 for this event to be awarded on reimbursement basis. Mr. Nolan was there to present the request. The event is held at the Bottomless Lakes and is an 8 mile cycling event. Mr. Nolen expressed that he would like to see this event grow. Last year had 99 total registrations, with 47 being from Roswell and the others from the surrounding arears such as Ruidoso, Albuquerque, Carlsbad, etc. 19 participants stayed overnight. After further discussion Councilor Sandoval moved to recommend to the full City Council the Lodger’s Tax funding in the amount of $2,000 be provided for the 4th Annual Xcel Energy’s Tour de Ocho Millas, Councilor Perry seconded, and it passed unanimously. 3. Lodger’s Tax Funding – 9th Annual Roswell Jazz Festival – October 8 – 14, 2014 Ms. Garcia noted the Occupancy Tax Board’s recommendation for funding in the amount of $3,700 for this event to be awarded on a reimbursement basis. Ms. Grieves was there to present the request. She spoke of the number of attendees at last year’s event, with 187 room nights, 67 of them being from out of town, with a total of 133 attendees from out of town. Advertising is done for local and regional through newspaper and radio and social media. After further discussion Councilor Perry moved to recommend to full City Council the Lodger’s Tax funding in the amount of $3,700 be provided for the 9 th Annual Roswell Jazz Festival, Councilor Sandoval seconded, and it passed unanimously. 4. Request for one time waiver of Lodger’s Tax & Convention Fee Penalty Ms. Garcia presented the request for one time waiver of Lodger’s Tax and Convention Fee penalty. She handed each councilor a letter from the requesting hotel. After discussion Councilor Perry moved to grant the request to waive the late penalties with the stipulation that this will be the only time fees will be waived for the establishment. Councilor Sandoval seconded and it passed unanimously. Other Business/Non-Action Items/Information Items/Reports 1. Finance Director’s Report 2 Ms. Garcia gave updated financial information to the Committee. Gross receipts for June, 2014 were up about 10% from June 2013. The 12 months of the fiscal year 2014 were up 5% from the previous fiscal year 2012. Lodger’s Tax for June, 2014 was down less than 1% from June 2013. The 12 months of fiscal year 2014 were up 10% from the previous year Fiscal year 2013. The Convention Center Fee had a collection of $56,960 in June 2014 compared to $49,025 in May 2014 with a total collection of $357,028 for FY2014. Dean Baldwin Painting continues to be current as well as Millennium. Millennium’s note will come due in September with a balloon being due at that time. The committee spoke concerning this issue and will re visit in the August meeting. Ms. Garcia passed out a spreadsheet with information regarding the hold harmless gross receipts tax issue. Councilor Grant asked her if at next meeting she could do a presentation showing the percentage amount of gross receipts tax the City will be losing due to the hold harmless. Mike Mathews spoke briefly about the rewiring of the old airport building which is due to be torn down. He mentioned that there will be no cost from Xcel energy regarding the rewiring to the other building. Meeting adjourned at 8:55 a.m. 3