2013-10-28 Reg - Laserfiche WebLink

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subsidizing the salaries of staff and other expenses that could not be met within the general fund. She stated that she felt they were creeping in that direction again. Ms. Carr stated that she wanted to make sure that the citizens get value from every dollar that was paid to staff, because that is what has been promised. She noted that this campaign was initiated because everyone wanted there to be development on Olive, but now it had become fashionable to say well we siphoned the money to the Loop and it does not deserve anything. Ms. Carr stated that she had obtained the 2011 tax payments collected for various things like the Trolley, Economic Development and the Loop Special Business District, and it turned out that based on the numbers from the State: UCity received $120,000 out of the roughly $550,000.00 that was collected. She noted this is about what the City spent on requests from the Loop Special Business District, so what the Loop puts in, in terms of sales tax, is actually going back to them and they are not taking from anybody else. Ms. Carr asked Mr. Walker if the current fund consisted of approximately two million dollars that has not been spent. Mr. Walker stated that there is approximately 1.7 million dollars in the fund. Ms. Carr stated then that would imply that there is money to spend on Olive, if only the city could find a plan. She stated that from her point of view, the problem is that staff has not moved forward because they just have not decided what to do. She stated one of the reasons she had asked that Council be allowed to hire a consultant to take a look at Olive was because staff kept coming up with the same thing. Ms. Carr stated that while she could see Council embracing the Chamber of Commerce, she is a very product- oriented person; always needing to know what she will get for her dollar. She stated that she would like to see benchmarks, such as the Chambers has brought in three new businesses; that they actually have conducted a survey with results; that they have completed training and that five people are now doing something with that training. Ms. Carr noted that the City had asked for a website for which they are paying about $66,000, but tagged onto that is the Chamber’s description of what they want in the same website. Ms. Carr noted there was a lot of redundancy and nothing unique. She stated that although she was not saying that she will not support this Bill, what she was saying is that she was shocked and disappointed when she opened her packet and looked at this item. Other than the Loop and Olive Boulevard there was nothing that identified what they would be spending the money for, but the fact is that this year we are going to spend at least $32,000.00 for the Chamber of Commerce. If she was correct, the projections were that the City would continue to support the Chamber for the next three to five years, which meant growing the Chamber, but wanted to know about growing Olive Street. Ms. Carr stated that she wanted to know if this Bill would make a real impact, as she was not convinced that this was the solution. She stated that she still does not think that anyone has a plan or even the foggiest notion of what to do on Olive. The City has put in some curbing, lighting, trees, and is now asking UCity in Bloom to do some additional landscaping. They have even bought properties with TIF, but unfortunately some of it is in the flood plain, so there is no economic benefit there , although everything the City does should generate an economic benefit. With regard to parking, Ms. Carr stated that she believed that the City must 13