Urbana City Council Upholds Mayor’s Veto of CVB Funding

The Urbana City Council has narrowly upheld Mayor Laurel Prussing's veto of funding for the Champaign County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Council members voted 4-to-3 against overriding Prussing's veto of those funds.

Some council members say they wanted to find some funding for the agency, but also wanted more evidence of its performance. Members agreed the the department offers a valuable service, but not at a level of $72,000 a year. The mayor wants to use the money for two police positions instead.

Alderwoman Diane Marlin said she regrets the council was being forced to choose, saying Urbana needed both economic development and public safety.

CVB President and CEO Jayne DeLuce said she is looking forward to engaging in additional dialogue with the city, and finding a funding level that leaders are comfortable with.

"I think for a long time, there has been some opportunities where maybe there hadn't been engagment in the past," DeLuce said. "And I'm all willing to do that. Because we have the documentation of what we do. We have great things that we're trying to move forward with. But we do truly need countywide support to be able to do that, because it's really hard to be able to look at say, 'how do you move forward without one of the major stakeholders in the picture?"

DeLuce said the CVB now needs to do a better job of reporting its value to stakeholders, something she says wasn't done well before she arrived 18 months ago.

Alderman Charlie Smyth said discussions will start with $20,000 dollars of unallocated funds to the CVB, and build from there over the next few weeks. But he said any agreement will include expectations in terms of performance.

"I think there's sentiment on the council to fund CVB at some level that we think is appropriate that we can afford," Smyth said. "And at the same time, there's a legitimate concern that we get our money's worth from them."

Aldermen Dennis Roberts, Robert Lewis, Diane Marlin and Charlie Smyth supported Prussing by voting against the override, while Brandon Bowersox, Eric Jakobsson, and Heather Stevenson voted to override. Smyth said he hopes to find about $50,000 by time talk on CVB funding wraps up, likely sometime in August.

Marlin also said she was happy to see the Champaign County Board is considering a funding level of its own for the CVB at its meeting on Thursday.

The city council has also finalized a 1-percent tax on package liquor, along with hiking Urbana's hotel-motel tax from 5 to 6 percent. It's expected to raise $270,000 and pay for raises for the city's AFSCME and police unions. Only Alderwoman Heather Stevenson voted down the fee hikes, saying she was never contacted by Prussing about them, and did not have time to gauge their impact from local businesses.