VILLAGE OF NORTH AURORA
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
DECEMBER 3, 2007
7:00 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
Village President Hansen called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Village President John Hansen, Trustee Dale Berman, Trustee Mike Herlihy, Trustee Bob Strusz, Trustee Mark Gaffino, Trustee Linda Mitchell, Trustee Max Herwig.
Staff in attendance: Village Administrator Sue McLaughlin, Finance Director Bill Hannah, Management Analyst Wes Kornowske, Atty. Drendel, Village Engineer Jim Bibby
TRUSTEE COMMENTS
Trustee Berman complemented the holiday snowflakes and signs in the Village.
PROCLAMATION FOR NATIONAL DRUNK AND DRUGGED DRIVING PREVENTION MONTH DECEMBER 2007
Village President Hansen proclaimed the month of December 2007 National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention month
PRESENTATION BY THE AURORA AREA CONVENTION/VISITORS BUREAU
Sue Vos from the Aurora Area Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, along with Perry Clark, one of the Board members of the AACVB addressed the Board. Vos informed the Board that the AACVB had a counter proposal to the Village’s contract proposal.
Vos presented the following information. The CVB is a private non-for-profit destination marketing and management organization, currently serving nine communities. The AACVB is funded 90% of a 3% local hotel bed tax. The AACVB also receives a special grant from the City of Aurora. The AACVB qualifies for a special Local Tourism Convention Bureau grant program as well as some other matching grants.
Gross revenues YTD for the Baymont Hotel are $431,133. The AACVB’s share of the Bed Tax for this year to-date is $8,190.
Vos mentioned that North Aurora benefits from its investment in the following ways: the Village is this year’s cover for the 2007 Visitor’s Guide. All of North Aurora’s events, shopping, dining attractions are featured on the visitors guide and website. AACVB sponsors North Aurora Days in the amount of $700.00. Radio advertising. The Village is featured in 20,000 locator maps. The AACVB supplies the local hotel with shopping bags for shopping packages and helps fill hotel rooms. The AACVB provides North Aurora with membership to the Lincoln Highway Coalition.
Perry Clark said that the sports market is steady in the country as a revenue generator. Clark noted that the Village of North Aurora has a phenomenal volleyball facility. The AACVB has helped the North Aurora Baseball Association fund some national tournaments. They are looking into a triple crown tournament for the North Aurora area. A Volleyball Professional Organization is looking to host a regional qualifier and do this in conjunction with a festival. Vos said that the AACVB has booked the AAU Women’s Basketball tournament for 2008. Vos added that the Solheim Cup will be coming in 2009, which will be a $50 million event. Forty-thousand people a day are expected.
Vos, on behalf of the AACVB, proposed the same 5 year contract with 90% of the tax going to the bureau. The AACVB will commit up to $10,000 to be returned to the city for tour-related projects such as feasibility studies for the riverfront or a project along the riverfront that might encourage overnight room stays. The AACVB said they would prefer to control the dollars rather than have them withheld with a different percentage split. Vos said that when the CVB is allowed to control the dollars, it uses it to leverage other grant dollars. If the split is changed to 75% for the CVB and 25% for the Village, there is an amount of money that can’t be matched. Vos said that the AACVB is willing to provide any reports to the Village. If interested, the AACVB will do a monthly or quarterly report.
Vos said North Aurora requested different language in the contract. Vos said that she has been dealing with the same contract for 20 years and it has served the AACVB well. Village Administrator Sue McLaughlin said that one request would be an ROI (information on what the Village is getting for its dollars) and a liability provision. McLaughlin said that she took the language from the Village of Gurnee (a request for the accounting of the money and a hold harmless clause). Vos said she would not have any objection to the hold harmless clause. As far as the return on investment, the Village can look at the Baymont’s gross revenues and the AACVB’s growth on the share of the bed taxes (provided in the meeting packet from the AACVB).
Trustee Gaffino asked about the $10,000 and if it is a one time figure or if it would be provided every year. Vos said that the Village should negotiate a larger amount ever year depending on the type of projects the Village had.
Vos said she would never ask a community to bump up their local tax just to put more money in the AACVB’s pocket, but the Village may find that it wants to increase the local bed tax by 2 points to be strictly dedicated to a specific program such as the riverfront.
There were no further questions. To be placed under New Business for next week’s Board meeting.
PUBLIC HEARING ON TRUTH IN TAXATION
Village President Hansen opened the public hearing on Truth in Taxation. Finance Director Bill Hannah informed the Board that the annual hearing is required since the Village’s proposed property tax levy will be 5% greater than the 2006 extensions. Hannah said that the Village is looking at an increased EAV next year of 13%. Although the Village is proposing a levy of $2,071,000, it is only anticipating to collect $1,774,000. Most of that is due to the capture of new construction, both residential and commercial in the village. The net effect is that the general tax levy and the library debt service might increase $2.00 to $3.50 depending on the value of a home. For the library, there will probably be a $6 increase. For the Village, there will be a tax decrease from .448888 to .430851 which is about a 4% decrease in the Village’s property tax rate. There were no public comments. Village President Hansen closed the public hearing.
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