HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-20-10 Tourism Business Improvement District Minutes
FINAL Tourism Business Improvement District
Minutes of Meeting January 20, 12 Noon
City Building, Bozeman Montana
Present: Cyndy Andrus (Executive Director)
Board Members: Andrew Ash, Lynn Bendz (sec), Tim Kuhlman, Mark Jones (chairman), Carl Solvie, Tom
Stenzel (treasurer), Steve Sparks
Advisory Board Members: Dan Rust, Melanie Stocks (Tournament Committee)
Public: Jeremy Fatouros (C’Mon Inn), Daryl Schliem (Bzmn Chamber of Commerce Dir.), Holly Ferrell
(Residence Inn), Justin Futral & Larry Lambert (Super 8 Bzmn Motel), Raeanna Gardiner (Blue Sky Motel)
The minutes from our December 23, 2009 meeting were reviewed. Motion to approve by Carla Solvie,
seconded by Tom Stenzel, all voice approved.
Comments from the public were opened. Daryl Schliem introduced himself as the new director of the
Bozeman Chamber of Commerce. Holly Ferrell asked about our intentions for the Missoula tourism
meeting. Mark Jones reminded us that we presently have no funding to pursue anything.
Larry Lambert of The Bozeman Super 8 Motel requested that we change the Bozeman lodging tax from
$1 per lodging night, to a 2% tax on room rental income. This would make the tax burden
proportionately equal among all motel guests, weather paying $100 per night for a room, or $28 per
night. There was a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of this proposal.
Pro--- It would bring in more money to the BTBID than the $1 tax; lower priced motel guests would not
bear a higher burden than the more upscale establishment guests; it has a feeling of fairness; motel guests
never complain about this small tax;
Con--It would make our board look amateurish to make such a fundamental change after just getting the
$1 per room night tax passed by the city council; it may impede our funding and marketing goals; it
may allow anyone to figure out a motel’s rental income by discovering from public tax documents how
much lodging tax the entity remitted.
Larry submitted to the board copies of letters from 13 motels in Bozeman who supported the change.
Daryl Schliem suggested that we wait a year on this proposal until we have experience managing the
taxing district. Mark Jones requested board members to form a committee to investigate the
probabilities of getting this proposal passed by the city council. Cyndy Andrus, Lynn Bendz and Steve
Sparks volunteered and will report back at our next board meeting.
Mark Jones reported that he had talked to First Security Bank about giving the TBID Board a line of
credit without the personal guarantee of each board member. The board agreed Mark should pursue that
avenue. In addition the board asked Mark to go forward with a letter to the city asking for funding too, in
case First Security Bank idea did not work. Motion to submit the letter to the city by Steve Sparks,
seconded by Tom Stenzel, all voice approved.
Melanie Stocks is the newest member of the Tournament Committee and we all welcomed her. She and
Dan Rust reported on their continuing efforts to attract motel guest through bids on high school athletic
events. They will be making bids in April for events that occur this fall and next year. The potential
high cost to us for this bidding could be $70 to $80,000, but would be money well spent.
Carl Solvie noted that our marketing efforts need to be put in high gear and should be a regular meeting
agenda item. All agreed, and Cyndy will report on efforts to implement at our next meeting.
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Cyndy Andrus requested that our meetings be moved from the 3 Wednesday of each month to another
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because of a schedule conflict. All agreed to meet on the 2 Wednesday of each month.
Motion to adjourn at 1:45 pm by Steve Sparks, seconded by Lynn Bendz, all voice approval.
The next meeting will be at City Hall on February 10, 2010.