The Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau has asked the Brown County Convention and Visitors Commission to document a promise to make up its 2020 budget shortfall.
Because of the financial needs of the Brown County Music Center during pandemic closures, the CVB has not received $186,250 it was owed from its 2020 contract.
The CVC contracts with the CVB to market Brown County using innkeepers tax dollars. They’re in the middle of a five-year contract which was signed in November 2018.
The CVC also manages innkeepers tax money to make sure there is enough to cover the music center’s mortgage payments if the venue isn’t making enough from ticket sales to do that. Because the BCMC shut down due to COVID-19 last year, the innkeepers tax fund was tapped to cover the payments the State Bank of Lizton required on the mortgage.
Due to innkeepers tax going to the music center, the CVB did not receive its full contract amount of $712,500. Instead, in 2020, the CVB received $526,250, CVB Board President Debbie Bartes said during the Feb. 11 CVC meeting.
“I don’t know what kind of receipts we’re going to have this year, but we’re going to have some big obligations coming up in 2021 to get our message out for the eclipse happening in 2024. That isn’t as far off as it sounds, especially thinking marketing terms,” Bartes said.
The CVB does not get the $712,500 in a lump sum at the beginning of the year; it gets it only as the innkeepers tax is collected and payments are paid “at least” quarterly, according to the contract.
The contract states that the CVB acknowledges the CVC has committed to covering shortfalls for the music center. It also states the CVC will cover any shortfalls of the $712,500 once it is repaid by the music center from its excess revenue fund.
Bartes asked the CVC to document the $186,250 shortfall for 2020.
“Hopefully in 2022 we can get our full contract amount, plus recover this money and any money that might shortfall this year so that we can do a proper marketing campaign for the eclipse,” Bartes said.
CVC President Kevin Ault asked CVC secretary Derek Clifford to note the amounts owed in the minutes. “We’re looking for a simple, ‘The 2020 budget was a shortfall of this much money and it is due to the CVB when available,’ something to track the amount,” said Jane Ellis, CVB executive director.
Innkeepers tax contract money enables the CVB to market Brown County to visitors, and it also pays CVB staff and the rent for the Brown County Visitors Center. Most of the CVB staff was laid off in 2020 as funding dwindled.
Bartes said the solar eclipse is going to be important to the tourism market here and additional money will be needed to market that. Brown County will be in the direct path of the eclipse, so it’s expected that more visitors will come here to see it.
“We’re hoping to have that (money) in plenty of time to commit to a marketing campaign. You have to plan all of that ahead, plan your marketing and you have to know your budget,” Bartes said.
“Knowing our budget has been an issue.”
During the Feb. 11 meeting, Bartes also asked if the CVB could expect a draw of its share of innkeepers tax that month.
“I doubt it,” Ault said.
CVC member Barry Herring said that from a mortgage standpoint, it would not be wise to issue out any more money from the innkeepers tax until tickets for BCMC shows — which are slated to happen in the third quarter of this year — start going on sale in the second quarter and begin to bring in more revenue. “There has to be cash coming into the account before we let loose of anything,” Herring said.
BCMC Executive Director Christian Webb said that a “wild card” in the current financial situation is how much money the venue will get back from the Shuttered Venue Operators grant program. The program was approved as part of the recent COVID-19 stimulus package. Based on the grant’s formula, the BCMC has up to $1.9 million in grant funding available to it.
“We know what we’re eligible for, but have no idea how much we’ll get,” Webb said.
Herring said income has to be in the innkeepers tax fund to help offset the risk of having to refund more tickets if shows do get canceled.
During his report to the CVC, Webb also said he was in talks with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department and Brown Circuit Court about holding jury trials at the 2,000-seat music venue in March once the Indiana Supreme Court lifts its suspension on jury trials that was put into place due to COVID-19. The county “rented” the building for this purpose in 2020.
Having jury trials at the BCMC the will require another memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be signed with the county and BCMC, but Webb said the MOU process will be “more transparent” with the county council this time around.
He said that the venue also will work on another MOU with the county health department to continue having the vaccine and testing site there. That process will also involve the county council, Webb said.
