Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Budget workshop: Bike Fest account review, parking program and proposed tax/business-license tweaks
Summary
At a budget workshop, staff reviewed Bike Fest bank-account activity, urged better monetization of the festival, presented parking-program revenue projections, and council asked staff for millage and business-license rate options to present at the next meeting.
Town Manager Linda Cheatham led a budget workshop after regular business, reviewing festival accounting and the town's revenue and expenditure outlook.
Cheatham reported Bike Fest’s dedicated bank account began with $40,206 (Oct 2023), had $79,263 in deposits and $57,532 in expenditures, leaving $61,937 at the end of the event. She told council that previous Bike Fest income had been undercounted in some places and that the town had missed monetization on alcohol licensing, RV fees and some vendor charges. "There were charges made to the general fund that were really Bike Fest expenditures," Cheatham said, noting some costs had been recorded in the wrong fund.
Council discussed monetization strategies including trademarking 'Atlantic Beach' for official merchandise, selling town-branded memorabilia at a town booth, and tightening vendor and alcohol permit accounting. Jacqueline Gore asked whether the town held a trademark for "Town of Atlantic Beach Bike Fest," suggesting trademarking could capture revenue from vendors selling branded goods.
Cheatham reviewed other FY25 items and new revenue: a $24,000 grant for EV chargers, $83,000 in ARPA funds used for roof repairs and chargers, a $69,000 reimbursement for a 3rd Street water project, and a proposed parking program with phased revenue expectations (staff presented $40,000 for FY25 and a higher estimate for FY26; council asked staff to present a conservative $60,000 estimate for FY26). Council discussed that Pivot (parking operator) would remit shared parking proceeds and that the town would pay minimal signage and administrative costs.
On taxes and business licensing, Cheatham said rollback calculations take the millage to about $0.77. Council requested options showing revenue impacts if the millage were set at $0.80, $0.81 and $0.82 to measure the effect of a rollback and to consider lowering the business license rate (discussion favored reducing the base business-license rate from $1.00 per $2,000 to $0.90 and reducing the incremental rate from $0.28 to $0.26). Cheatham said the auditor will deliver drafts in May and the new accountant has started work.
What happens next: Staff will return with millage scenarios, a departmental breakdown of court and police costs and monthly reporting detail, finalized Bike Fest accounting allocations and firm parking-program revenue projections ahead of the budget adoption process.
