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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Facilities Distict Board - 11/19/2009 (3) • �� KENT Public Facilities District November 19, 2009 Boardmembers Present: Greg Haffner, Lew Sellers, Randall Smith Others Present: Tim Higgins, Beth Sylves, Ron Harmon, Ben Wolters, Patrick McClusky, Robert Nachlinger, Tom Brubaker, Tim Higgins, Colin Campbell, Julie Pulliam, Steve Hunter, Brenda Jacober I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Haffner at 3:30 p.m. a. Introductions. Introductions were made. b. Approval of Minutes. Sellers moved to approve the minutes of the meeting of September 24, 2009. Smith seconded and the motion carried. C. Update on Board Membership. Wolters noted that the City Council recently confirmed Mike Miller's reappointment for another term. II. Finance Report. a. Sales Tax Revenues. Nachlinger presented copies of the proposed 2010 budget and noted that $850,000 in sales tax is anticipated. He added that the sales tax amount will increase from .033 to .037%. He noted that the proposed budget contains $500,000 in admissions tax and $200,000 in income from the Events Center. After a brief discussion, Sellers moved to approve the 2010 budget as presented, Smith seconded and the motion carried. Nachlinger confirmed that the Panther Lake Annexation will definitely benefit the city. b. ShoWare Center Income Statement and Projection. McClusky explained that because of the circus, there was a net income of $51,000 in September. He noted that there was a loss of $55,000 in October, which was offset by decreasing operating expenses and labor on hockey game days. He forecasted a loss of $343,000 in non-hockey event income, hockey event income, and revenue from suites, club seats, advertising and interest, and confirmed that the highest loss was in non-hockey event income. • McClusky said SMG is concentrating on maintaining and lowering operating • Public Facilities District November 19, 2009 Page Two expenses. Higgins explained cuts in staffing and noted that the increase in expenditures in September and October is due to the rise in utility costs. Wolters emphasized that currently the primary concern is attracting events, and said the Opportunity Fund could be used for that purpose. III. Operator Update. a. Event Bookings and Attendance. Higgins explained that the four events which were expected but did not occur were not cancelled for reasons having to do with the ShoWare Center It was noted that attendance in the league is down 10% and that attendance is down at all types of sporting events, due to the economy. b. Marketing Update. Higgins said next year there will be community events such as high school basketball tournaments and playoffs, and possible volleyball games. Sylves said there have been over 300,000 visitors to the facility and 312,000 visits to the website. She gave a breakdown of Disney on Ice attendees and outlined upcoming events and promotional • activities. IV. Seattle Thunderbirds Update. a. Sales and Marketing Update. Campbell noted that much had been learned from the previous season and that not as many early games will be scheduled this year. He said that special nights such as Rotary Night and Boy Scout Night were successful and will be repeated this year. b. Advertising Sale Update. Campbell explained some of the outreach efforts being made such as radio ads, bus ads, tv ads, newspaper ads and giveaways. He said information is also sent out by hard mail and to the email database, and noted that advertising is being done in South Seattle, Kent and Tacoma. C. Suite Sales Update. Campbell noted that suite sales are down, with fourteen out of twenty available. This led to a discussion of the reasons for the loss of sales and ways to entice potential buyers. Haffner pointed out that suite sales are not the biggest contributor to the loss of revenue. Harmon encouraged Campbell to come up with a marketing strategy to fill at least half of the vacant seats within six months; Campbell noted that they are currently being marketed on a single event basis, which will build up the • database. . Public Facilities District November 19, 2009 Page Three V. Other Business a. PFD Conference. Wolters explained that 30-40 members of all the Public Facilities Districts throughout the state met in Everett, and that they felt it was useful to get together and compare notes. He said he offered to host the conference next year. Higgins added that one of the interesting items of discussion was the audit process for PFDs. b. Added Item - Marquee. Upon a question from Haffner, Wolters said he has had conversations with a potential sponsor and that he expects to hear back from them in a few weeks. A brief discussion was held on small events and catering. C. Meeting Dates. It was noted that the next regular meeting will be held on January 28, 2010. VII. Adjournment a. The meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m. Brenda Jacober, CM City Clerk