Council approves V.I.C. budget

Brownfield City Council on Tuesday night approved the Visitor Information Center’s budget and an operations contract with the organization.

Council members Jerry Thomas, Roxanne Barr and Buzz Timmons voted to approve the entire requested amount of $33,992.

Councilman Dale Travis and Mayor Glenn Waters voted not to approve it. Two councilwomen were absent.

“Under our charter the mayor can vote anytime anytime he wants to,” said Assistant City Manager Mary Jo Collins.

The four-page operating agreement lists the amount of Hotel Occupancy Tax the Chamber of Commerce shall receive each quarter for the V.I.C., along with services the center will provide.

City attorney Jean Shotts said the contract is similar to ones used in the past - when the chamber held full control over the HOT funds - but contains a new paragraph that lists the V.I.C.’s duties of promoting the hotel industry.

“In every other respect it’s the same as the old contract,” Shotts said. “The terms are taken pretty much from the previous contract. The first paragraph is based on other cities’ (contracts) and what I understood you all wanted.”

Timmons pointed out that the second paragraph, which details the specific amount of HOT money the chamber will receive, will depend heavily on various circumstances and must be updated each budget session.

“Paragraph 2 is going to change every year,” he said.

Mayor Glenn Waters agreed, “It’s a living document.”

The HOT Funds Committee recommended the guidelines and HOT funds application procedure during a series of night meetings. The committee reviewed similar application from the cities of Burnet and Snyder, then created Brownfield’s.

“There are a few refinements to fit Brownfield,” said HFC member Rod Bearden. “This is a recommendation - change it the way you want.”

V.I.C. representatives were required to apply directly to City Council because they were seeking more than $2,000. Entities seeking less than that amount apply only to the HFC.

The HFC had previously agreed, though, to review all HOT applications - regardless of the requested amount - and send ones directly to City Council that were for more than $2,000.

“We’ll make sure the application is filled out right and we’ll send it to City Council,” said HFC member Ray Patel during a committee meeting Monday.

HFC meetings will be held the second Monday of each month. Applicants for HOT money must make their request by 45 days before the meeting.

Even the V.I.C. budget - which takes about a third of the year’s HOT funds - could potentially be seen by the HFC first.

“Next year this committee should be the receiver of that application,” Bearden said. “This committee should be the filter, even though they’re going to want more money than we can give them in the first place.”

At the council meeting Tuesday, Timmons suggested adding a provision to the contract that allows certain emergency excpetions to that 45-day rule, such as if someone suddenly became interested in holding an event in two or three weeks.

HFC member Lajuana Martinez said that scenario was unlikely because planning and advertising events usually took much longer than that anyway.

“This money is intended for advertising, and they’ve got to have more time than that for advertising,” she said.

Timmons responded that the provision would still be necessary even if it was rarely used.

“I’m not sure that’s ever going to come up, but in that very rare exception, I want to make sure that door’s open,” he said.

A few Chamber representatives objected to some of the duties listed the agreement that they felt would be unreasonable with the $33,992 budget, such as “provide a telephone answering service.”

“‘Answering service’ means 24 hours,” said Tresa West.

Shotts claimed it meant someone would be responsible for answering the phone only during regular business hours.

Councilman Jerry Thomas questioned another item in the V.I.C. responsibility list that called for hiring a “part-time” manager.
“That person will be fully over the visitor center - they won’t be doing it part-time,” he said.

Shotts responded that none of the possible budgeted salary  figures - which ranged from $12,000 to $18,000 - would be sufficient for a full-time manager.

Mayor Waters objected to a part of the V.I.C. budget that listed $7,000 for maintenance expenses that had not been approved on the original budget.

“What we expect from now on (is) when you budget something to follow that budget,” he said. “With taxpayer dollars you can’t just change a budget when you want to, even if it’s a good thing. That’s one of the things we’re concerned about.”

Chamber interim Director Lorena Valencia claimed that $7,000 was for roof repairs, and had been addressed to the council several months before.

“You should have said something when it was first spent,” she said.


Author: Josie Musico