The Taylorville Finance Committee met on Thursday evening for an hour meeting to discuss issues brought to the finance committee, including a look at the Business Development District or BDD, and discussion of adding a tourism council. Aldermen Chris Skultety was absent from the meeting. Chris Biondolino spoke to the committee concerning a Taylorville Tourism Committee that would serve as a dedicated body focused on enhancing and promoting tourism, shopping, and vitality within the city. He talked about the makeup of what the committee would consist of.
Biondolino says that he does not want to compete with Small Town Taylorville or the Chamber but wants to make sure the committee does what the Council wants, which is more transparency, fiscal responsibility, and awareness of what the committee would be doing. The committee would be funded from 100% of the hotel/motel tax which would allow the committee to hire a director, and allow the committee to apply for state grants. Biondolino said he didn’t want to say what the committee would do but that the lake, country music festivals, and maybe an amphitheater would be a great way to bring revenue and tourism into the town. After much discussion the committee thanked Biondolino for his presentation and said they would be discussing their plans moving forward.
Another big discussion came concerning the BDD. Aldermen and Finance Chair Randy Mitchelson suggested dissolving the BDD Committee and absorbing it into the Ordinance Committee. Mitchelson feels that the BDD Committee was an extra step.
Taylorville Mayor Bruce Barry says that the BDD Committee is just an advisory board and is still needed.
After much discussion, the finance committee voted in favor of dissolving the BDD Committee. It will be brought up to the full council for a full vote. During the finance committee, it was also announced that the budget was over by about 6%. The city was going to look into ways to make some cuts to fit under budget.
The next city council meeting is set for July 1st.
