Occupancy Tax Board

APPROVED OCCUPANCY TAX BOARD MEETING August 27, 2013 Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - 2:30 p.m. Conference Room, City Hall Members Present: Acting Chair- Adam Roe, Julie Morrow, Dawn Ortega Members Absent: Josh Ragsdale, Jill Cleveland Staff Present: Janice Self, Barbara Patterson, Stacye Hunter Others Present: Paula Grieves, Kathy Carrasco, Barbara Gomez, Staci Vandewart, Tina Williams, Jane Nevarez, Benny Wooton, Dale Wilkins, Phil Brewer, Dusty Huckabee Meeting was called to order at 2:31 pm by Acting Chairperson Adam Roe. Three of the five members of the board were present representing a quorum. Ms. Morrow moved to approve the minutes from the June 25, 2013 Occupancy Tax Board meeting. Ms. Ortega seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. 1. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – 8th Annual Roswell Jazz Festival (Oct 10 – 13, 2013) Ms. Kathy Carrasco, Ms. Paula Grieves and Mr. Dale Wilkins were there to present the request for $3,500. Ms. Carrasco began the presentation by informing the Board that the Festival is a live music Festival. Approximately 2000 musicians (international, national, and local) will be participating in the Festival. These musicians have fans and followers from all over the nation which come to the different Jazz Festival venues. This will bring name recognition to Roswell besides the alien connection. One of the very important elements will be education of music in America. There will also be a 12 year old trumpet prodigy at the Festival. There will be 10 different venues (some free, some ticketed) for visitors to enjoy. On Sunday there will be a worship service at Pueblo Auditorium. Five congregations will be represented and it is open to all. Besides the paper survey there will be an online survey form for visitors to fill out. Mr. Wilkins gave an overview of the Facebook connection and the web page. Ms. Morrow made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding up to the amount of $2,500 on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose. Ms. Ortega seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 2. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – Historical Society for SENM – Public Awareness Project (On going marketing) Ms. Tina Williams was there to present the request for $2,500. Ms. Williams explained to the Board that the advertising which is done through the Historical Society for SENM is to educate visitors about what the area has to offer and to keep them in Roswell for a longer period of time. Promotion is through brochures which are provided to the Visitor’s Center and to hotels. This year the Historical Society is going to be pushing larger advertising such as billboards. Over the course of a year, approximately 5000-6000 visitors come to the Historical Society. Another draw is the Research Center which is using by authors and others doing research on the area. The Research Center contains over 18,000 photographs, documents, directories, etc. The Historical Society also hosts a 4th grade tour of the Historical Society Museum. 4th graders can be the best ambassadors as they get very excited and pass the word along to friends and relatives. Ms. Ortega made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding up to the amount of $2,500 on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose. Ms. Morrow seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – Eastern New Mexico State Fair (Sept 30 – Oct 5, 2013) Mr. Phil Brewer was there to present the request for $12,000. Mr. Brewer informed the Board that this is one of the largest economic impacts on the Roswell economy through the year. According to the Target store, besides Black Friday, the Fair week is the best sales time of the year. Visitors from 16 counties come to Roswell during that time. Mr. Brewer did not bring his stack of surveys with him, but let the board know that last year there were 1600 hotel night stays. The Fair expects to draw 60,000 – 65,000 in total attendance this year. Ms. Ortega made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding up to the amount of $12,000 on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose. Ms. Morrow seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – 24th NM Championship Ranch Rodeo (Aug 16 – 17, 2013) Mr. Benny Wooton was there to present the request for $3,000. Mr. Wooton informed the Board that the Chaves County Rodeo Association (CCRA) puts on several events during the year, but this event is one of the 22 sanctioned events by the Working Ranch Cowboys Association (WRCA). The winning team of this event will be able to compete with 21 other teams at the 18th World Championship Ranch Rodeo in Amarillo, TX. There is large draw of fans which follow this type of Rodeo. Teams for this event must come off of New Mexico ranches. This effort is made to be sure that New Mexico is represented at the World Championship. There will be 20, five member teams. Each team will also be bringing family and friends plus fans. Surveys are hard to do with the admittance to the event, but each team packet will contain a survey form for the teams to fill out. Proceeds from the event go for scholarships to ranch kids totaling approximately $15,000. Mr. Wooton has asked that his request be reduced to $2,500. Ms. Morrow made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding up to the amount of $2,500 on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose. Ms. Ortega seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – Roswell’s Mud, Sweat and Tears (Sept 28, 2013) Ms. Barbara Gomez and Ms. Staci Vandewart were there to present the request for $5,150. Ms Gomez explained to the Board that Roswell’s Mud, Sweat and Tears is a mud and obstacle race and that people from Roswell travel to Albuquerque and Lubbock to participate in events similar to this. The purpose of holding the Roswell’s Mud, Seat and Tears is to keep Roswell participants here and to bring participants in from Albuquerque, Lubbock and surrounding areas. Several vendors will be at the event. Just a “push” on Facebook resulted in 400 likes within 48 hours 29% of those were from outside of Roswell. There will be a sign up and survey with the registration. NMMI will be having a similar event in March and Roswell’s Mud, Sweat and Tears are hoping to cross advertise with them. Advertising will be in the form of posters, radio and an insert with the Roswell Daily Record similar to the one for the NM Senior Olympics. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the local Operation Wounded Warriors. Mr. Roe inquired if Ms. Gomez was going to bring the Medical Conference to OTB this year? Ms. Gomez said that they had other sponsors and would not be coming to the OTB for funding of the Southeastern NM Medical Conference. Ms. Ortega made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding up to the amount of $3,000 on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose. Ms. Morrow seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – Christmas Fantasy 2013 (Nov 30 – Dec 1, 2013) Ms. Jane Nevarez was there to present the request for $1,570. Ms. Nevarez informed the Board that this is the 31st year for the Christmas Fantasy Art Sale. The previous coordinators have retired and some changes are being made. One of the changes is that while the event used to be on Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving it will be now Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving. There will also be more advertising. There will be several signs put up around town along with posters, radio and TV spots. A survey will be put together to get information from vendors. A “hash mark” system will be used when admissions are purchased. Radio and TV will be the primary advertising for outside of Roswell. Ms. Self offered an idea of a basket of goodies to be given away with a drawing from filled out survey card. Ms. Morrow made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding up to the amount of $1,000 on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose. Ms. Ortega seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. All attendees were informed that the date for the Finance Committee meeting has not yet been set, and they would be contacted as to the date and time. In other business, Ms. Self explained that the Jazz Festival had filled out and provided the event report for the 7th Annual Roswell Jazz Festival on the new form. Although the report was not necessary for the 7th Jazz Festival it did give the Board a look at how future events would be submitting their event reports. Also Ms. Self let the Board know that the Bottomless Triathlon reimbursement request has been processed. Ms. Morrow made the motion to adjourn and Ms. Ortega seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 3:31 p.m. Minutes submitted for approval by Janice Self.