MONROE - Monroe's Visitor and Promotion Board is back in the money for 2014, with some new self-imposed directions and an early New Year's surprise from the Monroe Chamber of Commerce.
The board took a hiatus in August, after reaching the limit of its anticipated revenue for the year.
It allocates about $60,000-$65,000 annually in revenues, generated by a four percent room tax, toward efforts to generate more overnight stays in the city. Hotel and motel owners transfer the tax paid by their guests to the city each quarter.
The board pre-approves reimbursing a portion of advertising expenses incurred by organizations that are then paid when the final bills are verified. To qualify, advertising must reach potential visitors beyond a 60-mile radius of the city, indicating a high probability of an overnight stay.
But by August, the board had pre-approved more than it expected to receive in the fourth quarter, creating a cash shortfall of about $24,000, which would diminish as room tax revenue came in.
Suspending further pre-approvals came even as four new applications for board review, including ones from the Monroe Balloon Rally and the Green County Model Railroaders, waited in the clerk's office.
At a meeting Tuesday, Dec. 17, board members found out its $61,600 cash in the bank, as of Dec. 12, fell about $1,500 short of the $63,100 in pre-approvals for the year. Another $500 in tax revenue is expected by the end of the year.
Board members gave a small sigh of relief, but then Pam Christopher, executive director for the Monroe Chamber of Commerce, asked to have her pre-approval amount amended.
"Realizing the Visitor and Promotion fund was over-committed," Christopher said, the Chamber of Commerce "reassessed our advertising and cut it to the bare bones" and was returning about $14,000 to the board. The Chamber was pre-approved to spend $20,000 in 2013.
The board members in attendance, Bill Ross, Richard Thoman and Tom Miller, were left almost speechless.
City Clerk Carol Stamm said the additional funds "will make a big difference."
Allocation revamp
Organizations and the reimbursement amounts they request have remained about the same from year to year, which is convenient for the board to anticipate upcoming requests, according to Ross and Stamm.
Ross proposed the board allocate $45,000, about three-fourths of the annual room tax revenue, to those he called the "heavy hitters" - Green County Department of Tourism, Monroe Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Monroe and WEKZ.
Pam Christopher advised the board that by packaging the Tourism, Chamber and Main Street funding into one lump sum, the three organizations would continue to work together in their efforts to get the best advertising placements and prices to benefit the city.
Ross then suggested the remaining quarter of the revenue, about $15,000, be set aside for smaller event organizers. Stamm also suggested the board "hold back some money for late requests" in the year. Thoman noted that the fund should see a little more than $60,000 annually in revenues.
The board scheduled 5 p.m. Jan. 15 for its first meeting of 2014, when it will review the history of approvals, the expected requests for 2014 and lay out most of its allocations for the year.
The board took a hiatus in August, after reaching the limit of its anticipated revenue for the year.
It allocates about $60,000-$65,000 annually in revenues, generated by a four percent room tax, toward efforts to generate more overnight stays in the city. Hotel and motel owners transfer the tax paid by their guests to the city each quarter.
The board pre-approves reimbursing a portion of advertising expenses incurred by organizations that are then paid when the final bills are verified. To qualify, advertising must reach potential visitors beyond a 60-mile radius of the city, indicating a high probability of an overnight stay.
But by August, the board had pre-approved more than it expected to receive in the fourth quarter, creating a cash shortfall of about $24,000, which would diminish as room tax revenue came in.
Suspending further pre-approvals came even as four new applications for board review, including ones from the Monroe Balloon Rally and the Green County Model Railroaders, waited in the clerk's office.
At a meeting Tuesday, Dec. 17, board members found out its $61,600 cash in the bank, as of Dec. 12, fell about $1,500 short of the $63,100 in pre-approvals for the year. Another $500 in tax revenue is expected by the end of the year.
Board members gave a small sigh of relief, but then Pam Christopher, executive director for the Monroe Chamber of Commerce, asked to have her pre-approval amount amended.
"Realizing the Visitor and Promotion fund was over-committed," Christopher said, the Chamber of Commerce "reassessed our advertising and cut it to the bare bones" and was returning about $14,000 to the board. The Chamber was pre-approved to spend $20,000 in 2013.
The board members in attendance, Bill Ross, Richard Thoman and Tom Miller, were left almost speechless.
City Clerk Carol Stamm said the additional funds "will make a big difference."
Allocation revamp
Organizations and the reimbursement amounts they request have remained about the same from year to year, which is convenient for the board to anticipate upcoming requests, according to Ross and Stamm.
Ross proposed the board allocate $45,000, about three-fourths of the annual room tax revenue, to those he called the "heavy hitters" - Green County Department of Tourism, Monroe Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Monroe and WEKZ.
Pam Christopher advised the board that by packaging the Tourism, Chamber and Main Street funding into one lump sum, the three organizations would continue to work together in their efforts to get the best advertising placements and prices to benefit the city.
Ross then suggested the remaining quarter of the revenue, about $15,000, be set aside for smaller event organizers. Stamm also suggested the board "hold back some money for late requests" in the year. Thoman noted that the fund should see a little more than $60,000 annually in revenues.
The board scheduled 5 p.m. Jan. 15 for its first meeting of 2014, when it will review the history of approvals, the expected requests for 2014 and lay out most of its allocations for the year.