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4 <br /> <br /> Ms. Linda Peacock, Assistant City Manager, said that funding for the Dr ug Court <br />is not included in the City budget. She said they are asking for $31,885 from the City in <br />addition to the amount recommended from CDBG. She said they were asked to submit <br />their request through OAR. She said the review team rated their program ex cellent, but <br />based on total funding available, the team recommended they be funded from other <br />means. Ms. Peacock said they could be funded from Council's reserve. She noted that <br />the amount requested by the Drug Court will increase every year. Ms. Peacoc k noted that <br />the Council reserve has increased to $93,000. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox said that the Drug Court helps save the City a significant amount of <br />money. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Ms. Richards about the basis for JABA's large <br />request, Ms. Saphira Baker of the Commission on Children and Families, said the <br />increase was due to an increase in scholarship programs for adult day care, but the review <br />team did not feel there was a compelling need for the increase. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said he would like to consider increasing funding to the Charlottesville <br />Center for Contemporary Arts (CCCA) given they raised funds to construct their building <br />and they contribute to bringing people downtown. Mr. Lynch said we have provided <br />more funding for the Paramount and McGuffey. <br /> <br /> Ms. Rich ards said she does not disagree with Mr. Lynch, but noted that the <br />amount for McGuffey is small when you minus the rent. Ms. Richards said that the Arts <br />and Culture Task Force informally recommended that Council provide CCCA with <br />$40,000 this year and a d ecreasing amount each year as long as their capital campaign is <br />ongoing. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati asked if the Task Force reviewed funding for the Municipal Band, <br />and Ms. Richards said no. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati asked that the Municipal Band be reviewed. <br /> <br /> Ms. Peacock note d that the funding request by CCCA was for $32,000. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch noted that the Convention and Visitors' Bureau funding is <br />recommended to increase by 19%, which is tied to one third of the lodging tax. Mr. <br />Lynch said he likes the idea of a formula, but doe s not think the right percentage is a <br />third. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox noted that the national average is 65% of lodging taxes. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said it is hard to believe that one third of the people visiting are here <br />because of advertising. He said he would rather reduce th e amount. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox asked if Mr. Lynch's proposal is to give them less and expect more. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said the hotel perspective is that they collect the tax for the City. <br />He said they advocate increasing the amount. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch asked why private fundin g is less, and Mr. O'Connell said that the <br />Chamber of Commerce stepped out of this agreement. He said that the Bureau will <br />partner with the private sector to pay for ads. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said he would prefer to keep the formula at 24%. He said if they bring <br />in more money then we could give them more money. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said he does not see the need to reduce the funding, and said that the <br />same logic could be applied to the Charlottesville Transit System. <br /> <br />