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Committee backs $830,000 allocation to St. Charles Business Alliance for tourism and events
Summary
The Government Operations Committee approved a $830,000 funding allocation request from the St. Charles Business Alliance to support destination marketing, events and visitor services; the request uses SSA and hotel/motel tax sources.
The Government Operations Committee approved an $830,000 funding allocation for the St. Charles Business Alliance to support destination marketing, events and visitor services for the coming fiscal year.
Janice Sawicki (Executive Director, St. Charles Business Alliance) presented the alliance’s highlights, saying the group uses a mix of SSA (Special Service Area) and hotel/motel tax revenue to run marketing campaigns, install digital kiosks downtown, expand the app and support events such as Scarecrow Weekend, SCC Live and the Fine Art Show. Sawicki said the total request is $830,000, an increase of $32,400 from the prior allocation; she said $272,000 would come from SSA 1B and $558,000 from hotel/motel taxes.
Sawicki highlighted metrics including 35,000-plus social followers, about 10,000 app downloads, 116,000 website visits and more than 63,000 kiosk event counts. She described the alliance’s goal of running events at breakeven and stated that event attendance drives downtown spending and tax revenue. The alliance said Scarecrow Weekend continues to draw the largest crowds, and conferences and plaza programming bring visitors to hotels and downtown businesses.
Committee members asked about adding more retail-focused promotions and about plans to add plaza programming; Sawicki said the alliance has ideas in development and is working with business stakeholders. Following the presentation, the committee proceeded to a roll-call vote.
Motion by Baumgard, seconded by Dem, to approve $830,000 to the St. Charles Business Alliance carried by roll-call vote. The roll call in the transcript records affirmative votes from committee members present.
Sawicki said the allocation increase will help move the alliance’s budget closer to breakeven and support marketing and events that, she said, generate increased tax revenue for the city.
