Elgin wants to cap tourism bureau salaries
The city of Elgin is considering limits on how much of its money the Elgin Area Convention and Visitors Bureau can spend on salaries, just like a state grant does.
The city council will discuss Wednesday a proposal from City Manager Rick Kozal for a $196,700 yearly contract with the bureau that caps at 50 percent "salaries and related payroll expenses," with 90 percent of the rest going to a comprehensive marketing plan with measurable deliverables.
If the contract is approved, the bureau's current salary, employee taxes and health insurance costs would exceed the total allotted amount by about $79,000, according to figures provided by the city.
The bureau's current $435,000 budget for the fiscal year ending June 30 accounts for $233,427 in salaries - including $127,000 for its president and CEO Kim Bless, two more full-time employees and one part-timer - $24,000 for employee taxes and $19,000 in health insurance, said Barb Keselica, who works as Elgin's special events and community engagement manager and serves on the bureau's board of directors.
As for whether the bureau might have to slash salaries, lay off employees or find more funding, "that would be up to the executive director or the board how they want to meet that requirement," Keselica said.
Bless - who also receives a $4,200 vehicle stipend, Keselica said - declined to answers questions.
"I am in the process of discussing the PSA (purchase and sale agreement) with the city and still have questions for them. I would not feel comfortable commenting until I have more answers from the city as I don't know the impact of it all yet," she said.
The 50 percent cap for "salary and related expenses" mirrors the language of the annual grant the bureau gets from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Kozal said.
"We want the city's grant to match the requirements of the state," he said. "We believe that the most important work that the EACVB should be doing is focused on advertising and marketing."
Department spokeswoman Jacquelyn Reineke said the state grant this fiscal year amounts to about $196,000 and capped expenses include taxes and benefits.
The grant requires bureaus to provide no less than 50 percent in local funds.
Elgin has been giving the bureau a portion of local hotel/motel taxes - a little more than $200,000 in recent years - since 1988 under a generic agreement.
In recent months city council members have called out the bureau for spending too much on salaries and too little on marketing. Kozal initially proposed to entirely cut off funding for the bureau, but council members heeded to Bless' pleas to instead set up a contract.
Kozal also is recommending that representatives from the Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin and the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce be added to the bureau's board of directors.