President Abell: Call to order the special meeting of the Vanderburgh County Council, July 25th, 2007. Attendance roll call please.

COUNCILMEMBER	PRESENT	ABSENT
Councilmember Sutton	X
Councilmember Leader	X
Councilmember Shetler	X
Councilmember Goebel	X
Councilmember Raben	X
Councilmember Winnecke	X
President Abell	X

President Abell: We are here this morning to discuss the ordinance of the Vanderburgh County Council amending the existing ordinance for the Vanderburgh County Innkeepers Tax Rate, and I think we have Mr. Vezzoso in the audience to discuss this for us. Mr. Vezzoso.

Joe Vezzoso: Good morning. First off, I’d like to thank you all for meeting at 8:15 to look at this ordinance and possible passage of the same. I’ve been before you and indicated to you – I guess I should have brought coffee and donuts this morning, but I just really didn’t have time to stop and get it. We have previously talked to you all concerning this ordinance. It’s an increase of the Innkeeper’s Tax from six percent to eight percent. I think that you all have a copy of the ordinance in front of you and if you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to try to answer them. These additional funds will go into the Tourism Capital Development fund which has to be appropriated through this body before any of those funds can be expended. So we feel that it will generate revenue to give us the ability to add new attractions to attract more conventions and visitors to Vanderburgh County.

Councilmember Winnecke: Joe, just for the record, you might remind everyone and for those who are watching at home, about the Schumacher study and maybe just go into a little more detail just to get it on the record as to what we think it will generate.

Joe Vezzoso: Last year we commissioned Don Schumacher out of Cincinnati, Ohio to come into Evansville to look at our park systems, look at different facilities within our community and tell us what we needed to do to get into, really, the youth sports market. Don came back with that study and indicated to us that we need to really seriously look at the expansion of the current soccer complex. We also need to look at the BMX track out at Burdette Park and we also needed to look at adding a quality baseball complex that had about somewhere between eight and twelve fields where you could really attract the tournaments. We have already submitted to the ASA, which is the Amateur Softball Association, bidding processes for 2009 tournaments, which will be selected in October of this year. So we’re not sitting back. We want to see the project move forward, so we’re already out there bidding on tournaments for the year of 2009, because if we wait until we get the facility built, we’re going to be lagging by about two years. So in October of this year, we’ve already sent the bid documents in for those tournaments and we’re already looking at other organizations within that youth sports market that we could maybe bring to Evansville. A number of you, I know, that have children or grandchildren that are in youth sports and I think that you have to agree, that youth sports certainly generates a lot of money for a community. Youth sports, especially girls, when they travel, the mother goes, the father goes, the brothers and sisters go, grandmas and granddaddies go. So it’s really, when you look at the youth sports, we have really kind of focused in on girls 16 and under. It seems that when boys get to be 16, their desire for softball/baseball goes to the side and they start looking for young ladies to associate with as opposed to baseball bats. But when you look at the girls sports and 16 and under, it does generate a tremendous amount of revenue for a community. So we just feel that with this additional funding, and as we move forward with the project and bring it back to you all for your review and hopefully approval at some point, that it will be extremely financially beneficial to our community as a whole.

Councilmember Goebel: Mr. Vezzoso, I’ll have cream with my coffee next time, please.

Councilmember Goebel: Please. I think some of the members got that already, but I do want to commend you and the other people leading the way on this because obviously, this will be a wholesome growth of a market that I think this Council and everyone else agrees will help our community. Tourism will be good, its just a type of activity and growth that we want, I would think, in Vanderburgh County. And when you make the bids for tournaments, do you bid with the facilities in mind that are going to be developed between now and 2009 or do you have to go with existing facilities?

Joe Vezzoso: Currently, the existing facilities would not allow us to bring a tournament into Evansville. The quality of the existing fields in our community are not such that would allow you to bring a national type tournament into the county. What we are doing, we are already starting the process of designing a complex so that when we go in October, we’ll have an architectural rendering of what we feel the fields are going to end up looking like. Other communities have done this. I’ve been to a couple of these association meetings, and as communities make the decision to move forward with these types of facilities, they have their architectural renderings there at the point to where the decision makers can see what you’re proposing to have by the year 2009 or 2010, whatever. It’s a relatively quick process in building these. This is not an extended process to build the baseball or softball fields. It can happen fairly quickly.

Councilmember Raben: Before I cast my vote, who were you referring to that might have grandchildren up here?

Joe Vezzoso: None of you. I mean, you all are too young to have grandchildren yet.

Councilmember Raben: One thing you did forget to mention and it’s probably the most recent use of your funding through the Innkeepers Tax, is the assistance that you just granted the county on purchasing the 30 acres at Burdette Park to preserve and enhance the park and for future expansion, and we appreciate that.

Joe Vezzoso: I was just checking to see who was here. We’re happy to be able to assist with that and we thought that was a very beneficial thing for the county.

Councilmember Raben: Before, I had one last note here, Joe and I have spoke and I have spoke with some of the other Council folks, and I know there is nothing we can do today and I do intend to support this request, but going forward, the county, in December of 2010, we lose one penny that we use today to help offset, we use two cents today to help offset the operations of the Centre. And the likelihood of that operating in the black in 2010 is still up in the air, so looking forward, I have asked Joe, and I am here today to ask everyone here that we put a push on with the legislators to give us back that penny that they take away. It’s actually January of 2011 is when the collection goes back to the bureau. So we do need that penny back, I’m sure, and with this additional two cents, you probably aren’t going to need that extra penny anyway.

Joe Vezzoso: We can use every cent we can get. Mr. Raben and I have spoken, and what happened is, and I don’t remember the year, I’m sorry, but when we renegotiated the two cent deal with between the county and the state legislators and the bureau and the Centre, there was some sentiment that this body, our commissioners that you all appoint, and also the state legislators, that the Centre needed to try to be weaned off of this money and to go out and be more aggressive in their sales efforts and try to make the Centre a more profitable operation. And I think that was the intent of the law, it’s a state law, and as Mr. Raben was indicating, we have to go to the state house and ask them to change that law. And just for your information, it does occur January the first of 2010 and not 2011. So December 31st of 2009 is when that reverts back into the county treasury. I mean, that’s what the law says. If you don’t have a copy of this law and you’d like a copy, I’ll be more than happy to see that all of you get it so you can really see what we’re talking about. I support that. I can’t say that our entire board of commissioners support it, but I do, especially if there’s still issues at the Centre where they have the loss level that they currently do. Now, if that were to change, then I think we all should relook at this and that money can be used for other projects in the county and within the city that would benefit tourism again.

Councilmember Sutton: Yes, we get a report each month and that report shows the local lodging or hotels/motels around here that are delinquent in paying those Innkeepers Taxes, and that report, we often don’t make reference to it, but since we are talking about it and we’re talking about increasing that, I thought maybe we ought to just make sure as Councilmembers, take a look at that report and make reference to it. There’s really only three local hotels that are delinquent on their Innkeepers Tax and that would be the Econo Lodge, formerly known as the Ramada, Evergreen Motel and the St. Mary’s Motel, are the ones that are delinquent. Everyone else in current.

Joe Vezzoso: If you look at that report, you’ll see that those same organizations and companies are on there month after month. When you refer to the Ramada, it is, that’s the one out at 41 and Pigeon Creek that has changed hands so many times. Our legal counsel stays on top of that pretty much and files suit. In some of those cases, the dollar amount is not worth the effort but we go ahead and make it because we don’t want anyone to feel that they don’t have to pay the obligation to the county. So our legal counsel does pretty much stay on top of that. And then the list is really pretty much cleaned up except for those few.

Councilmember Sutton: Yeah, I make note of that because the majority, the vast majority of our hoteliers are making sure that the Innkeepers Tax is being collected here locally.

Joe Vezzoso: And one nice thing, if those taxes are not paid, I think it does affect their liquor license, too, if they try to apply for their liquor license. Yes, Sir?

Councilmember Shetler: I’m going to follow up on that and I don’t know if this is for you, Joe, but, Royce, I think in that one instance there where we have the Econo Lodge, I believe those guys are getting quite a bit of money even back or at least recommendations from the county because when people are released from the prison, if they have no place to go or from the jail, I’m sorry, they are referred to that place as kind of, I don’t know if you want to call it a stepping stone or whatever, so I’m just wondering if there isn’t some ways that we can actually coordinate or work something out through the county to enforce that.

Joe Vezzoso: This, and I don’t know how many months they’re showing, Royce, currently, I mean, Mr. Sutton, is it seven months?

Joe Vezzoso: I think Mr. Schopmeyer, who is our legal counsel at the bureau level has talked to this gentleman on numerous occasions and the gentleman has promised and promised to step forward and make payment to the county. If the county can assist in that, you know, it would be great to get all those back taxes paid. We don’t like to see any of the hotels in arrears in their tax payments because we just don’t think that’s good business. They need to pay their taxes like everyone else and if somehow the county could put a little heat on that group, that would be great. If not, I probably could find you another motel that you could send those people to.

Joe Vezzoso: Yeah, if I was behind eleven months in our taxes, they would certainly make movement, I’m sure.

Joe Vezzoso: Yeah, Mr. Raben, it’s that property at 41 and Pigeon Creek by the red, white and blue building.

Councilmember Raben: We can offer a lot of assistance sending the Sheriff’s office out there to put a chain around the front door.

President Abell: Any other comments or questions of Mr. Vezzoso? I just have one comment and that is, as someone who sits on the Criminal Justice Planning Committee, I like seeing these youth sports being promoted. I hope it does take care of our jail overcrowding in the future, that we’ll see fewer and fewer people doing those kind of activities. This will require a motion from the Council if we want to vote on this today to waive the second reading and do it all on one reading, so I would open the floor for – Mr. Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Madam President, I would move that we waive the rule to vote in different meetings and vote today.

President Abell: Now I would entertain a motion to pass the ordinance of the Vanderburgh County Council Amending the Existing Ordinance for the Vanderburgh County Innkeepers Tax Rate.

Councilmember Winnecke: Madam President, I would move that we increase the Innkeepers Tax as designated by the Indiana Legislature from six percent to eight percent.

Councilmember Sutton: I do want to make mention, this is not an increase in property taxes. This is the Innkeepers Tax, hotels and motels. Yes.

Joe Vezzoso: I want to thank each and every one of you for coming in early and taking care of this. We greatly appreciate it. And we’ll be bringing back the project so that you all can see it. And, Ms. Abell, I certainly agree with you 100 percent. This facility will not only be used by visitors to our community, its also going to be used by our local youth, so hopefully, that will help in some way. Again, thank you all very much for your support. We appreciate it.

President Abell: Thank you, Mr. Vezzoso. I’ll entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting.

(There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 a.m.)