Occupancy Tax Board

APPROVED OCCUPANCY TAX BOARD MEETING September 23, 2014 Tuesday, August 26, 2014 - 2:30 p.m. Conference Room, City Hall Members Present: Chair- Julie Morrow, Jill Cleveland, Adam Roe Members Absent: Dawn Ortega, Josh Ragsdale Staff Present: Janice Self, Monica Garcia, Laine Martin Others Present: Tina Williams, Dusty Huckabee and Phil Brewer. Meeting was called to order at 2:30 p.m. by Acting Chairperson Julie Morrow. Three of the five members of the board were present representing a quorum. Ms. Cleveland moved to approve the minutes from the June 24, 2014 Occupancy Tax Board meeting. Mr. Roe seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Acting Chairperson Julie Morrow asked Ms. Self to please address the change of agenda for the board. Ms. Self stated that a motion needed to be made to move the first item under other business to the first item on the agenda. This item is the determination of the chairperson for FY 2015. Ms. Morrow made the motion to move the first item from other business to the beginning of the agenda items and Mr. Roe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 1. Determination of FY 2015 Chairperson – Ms. Cleveland motioned that Ms. Julie Morrow be the next chairperson for the fiscal year 2015. Mr. Roe seconded the motion. Ms. Morrow accepted the position and the motion passed unanimously. Ms. Morrow reviewed the Robert’s Rules for motions and asked Ms. Self to remind everyone of the 90 days rule in the Occupancy Tax Information & Procedures policy which pertained to two of the applications on the agenda and to also give examples of how a motion needs to be made for normal and special actions. Ms. Self passed out copies of the Occupancy Tax Information & Procedures to the board members. Ms. Self went on to explain that #7 in the “policy” stated that events were to submit their applications 120 days but no later than 90 days before the event. The reasons behind the rule are 1) OTB is unable to hold a meeting before the Finance Committee meeting is held, 2) the Finance Committee is unable to hold a meeting before the City Council meeting, or 3) Advertising needs to be done well in advance, if funding is denied by Council it is not looked upon favorably that the event may have the “paid in part by City of Roswell Lodgers Tax” when the event has not been awarded Lodgers’ Tax funding. On the other hand if funding is approved but advertising has been done without the “paid in part by City of Roswell Lodgers Tax” that advertising is not an eligible expense for reimbursement. Ms. Self let the board members know that if recommending the two events which have less than the 90 days before the event the motion needs to reflect that the Finance Committee must waive the 90 day rule. There were no questions and Ms. Morrow proceeded to the next item on the agenda. 2. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – Chile & Cheese Festival (Sept. 26–27, 2014) Mr. Huckabee was there to present the request for $1,100.00 (one thousand one hundred dollars). Mr. Huckabee informed the Occupancy Tax Board that the Chile & Cheese Festival is the oldest festival in Roswell. MainStreet Roswell is marketing with NMMI for posters at the Institute during parent’s weekend. Last year there were 171 cadet families which attended and on the bus tours to Leprino there were 60 people from out of town. Mr. Huckabee also stated that this may be the last year for the Chile & Cheese Festival because of some of the dairies closing down. Ms. Morrow asked Mr. Huckabee to please provide the survey information in a printed format to Ms. Self. The information was not presented with the Event report from the festival last year and was not provided with the application this year. Mr. Huckabee said he would be sure Ms. Self received the information. Ms. Cleveland stated that the Chile & Cheese Festival provides people which are here for the parent’s weekend for NMMI something else to do, but does the Chile & Cheese Festival bring people to Roswell? Mr. Huckabee stated that hopefully it keeps the parents in Roswell longer and they stay more nights and spend more money in Roswell. Mr. Roe made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding in the amount of up to $1,100.00 (one thousand one hundred dollars) on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose with the stipulation that the 90 day rule be waived for this event by the Finance Committee. Ms. Cleveland seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – Historical Society of Southeast NM – Public Awareness Ms. Tina Williams was there to present the request for $2,500.00 (two thousand five hundred dollars). Ms. Williams began by informing the Occupancy Tax Board that this is not an event but an ongoing public awareness to promote Roswell. The Historical Museum’s admission is free. A new website has been created which is more user friendly and helps reach out beyond Roswell. The Historical Society Museum is the number 6 destination in New Mexico on trip advisor. Visitors are asked to fill out a survey which has a place to mark if they have stayed overnight in Roswell. 100 people have marked that spot in the last year (May 2013 to May 2014). The money is being used to create brochures, bookmarks, fun sheets, newspaper ads for events and also the locator guide which lists other museums and attractions in and around Roswell. The primary goal is to encourage visitors to lengthen their stay to Roswell. The Historical Society Museum is now on a bus tour schedule during September and October and also has people coming to use the archives for research. Ms. Morrow asked about the reduced amount the Historical Society used last year [$1,029.00 compared to the $2,500.00 that was awarded]. Ms. Williams explained that the Historical Foundation for Southeast New Mexico cut their budget, so they were not able to do as much advertising. Ms. Cleveland made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding in the amount of up to $2,500.00 (two thousand five hundred dollars) on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose. Mr. Roe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – Eastern New Mexico State Fair (ENMSF) (Sept. 29 – October 4, 2014) Mr. Phil Brewer was there to present the request for $12,000.00 (twelve thousand dollars). Mr. Brewer began by apologizing to the Occupancy Tax Board for the tardiness of the Eastern New Mexico State Fair application. Trisha Lair has had unexpected medical problems and therefore the marketing expenses are based upon the actual of last year. Mr. Brewer explained further that except for “Hike It! & Spike It!” the ENMSF brings more people to Roswell. The Fair has expanded to 16 counties in New Mexico. The store manager at Target has stated that it is the best weekend for sales except for Black Friday. The survey cards are collected from vendors and exhibitors before they can leave or collect their items. Mr. Brewer also said that the Fair Board had a hard time finding rooms for the judges if not done several months in advance. Ms. Cleveland made the motion to recommend to the Finance Committee that Lodgers’ Tax funding in the amount of up to $12,000.00 (twelve thousand dollars) on a reimbursement basis be provided for this purpose with the stipulation that the 90 days rule be waived for this event by the Finance Committee. Mr. Roe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 5. Lodgers Tax Funding Request – FY 2013 Roswell Invaders – Un-encumber funds which have not been requested for reimbursement. Ms. Self explained to the Occupancy Tax Board that funding in the amount of $1,500.00 (one thousand five hundred dollars) which was awarded to the Roswell Invaders for in FY 2013 on a reimbursement basis has never been requested. Furthermore the Roswell Invaders did not request funding in FY 2014. Ms. Self requested to un-encumber those funds. This would not increase our budget for FY 2015. Mr. Roe motioned to recommend that the funds for FY 2013 Roswell Invaders be un-encumbered back into the Lodgers’ Tax fund. Ms. Cleveland seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. All attendees were informed that the date for the Finance Committee meeting has been set for Thursday, September 4, 2014 at 8:00 am. Marketing Directors Report: Ms. Monica Garcia announced that Ms. Renee Roach has resigned as of Friday, August 22, 2014. [Renee Roach’s last day is September 5, 2014.] Reimbursement Report and Event Reports update: Ms. Self informed the Occupancy Tax Board of reimbursements made to Roswell Road Race Series – Alien Chase, Jesse Andrus & Mike Hillman Memorial Bullriding and 30th Annual Milkman Triathlon. Financial reports were submitted by Historical Society for Southeast NM and 30th Annual Milkman Triathlon. Event Reports were submitted by Roswell Road Race Series – Alien Chase, Jesse Andrus & Mike Hillman Memorial Bullriding and the 30th Annual Milkman Triathlon. Ms. Self requested to change the application due date in September from Wednesday, Sept 17th to Friday, Sept 12th. This is the date that applications are due to Ms. Self in order to process for the September 23rd meeting. Ms. Self explained that she would be out of the office during the original week due and would like to have the applications due the week before. Permission was received. The Open Meetings Act short informational class was cancelled. Ms. Coll thought it best if all board members were in attendance when the class is given. Ms. Morrow asked how long the class would last and Ms. Self informed the board it would be about 10 – 15 minutes. The meeting adjourned at 3:20 p.m. Minutes submitted for approval by Janice Self.