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Chamber warns deep cut would be 'massive blow' to small nonprofit
Summary
Dana Mullis, executive director of the Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce, told the council a proposed reduction of city support would severely limit the Chamber’s ability to run events and promote local businesses and asked for a smaller cut than the draft 53% reduction.
Dana Mullis, executive director of the Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce, told the Baldwin City Council that the proposed budget would be "a massive blow for a small nonprofit." Mullis said economic development in the draft budget faces an 88% reduction and asked the council to consider a more moderate cut than the 53% figure shown for the Chamber.
"The Chamber turns the city's investment into growth opportunities, events and services that benefit Baldwin City as a whole," Mullis said, asking how the city plans to generate the sales-tax growth it forecasts while cutting the very investments meant to spur that growth. She contrasted Baldwin City's approach with neighboring towns that maintain chamber funding as a core economic-development tool.
Council members acknowledged the concern and discussed options including phasing reductions over multiple years, selling tax credits to shore up reserves, raising the mill levy, or selling surplus property. Staff said the economic development account has already sustained large reductions, and the council asked staff to present multi-year scenarios before the budget hearing to weigh one-time fixes against structural changes.
