City to dole out $64,000

At Tuesday's City Council meeting last year's collection of the hotel/motel tax will be doled out to various entities, in the hopes of attracting more tourism to Woodstock. The City collected $64,400 and plans to distribute 100% of it, rather than holding back 10% as was the original plan. The "rainy day" has arrived.

If the City Council approves the recommendation in the Council's packet for Tuesday, this is how the checks will be written:

$15,000 Woodstock Downtown Business Assn.
$12,000 McHenry County Visitor & Convention Bureau
$12,000 Woodstock Chamber of Commerce
$6,000 Challenger Learning Center
$5,000 Woodstock Groundhog Day Committee
$4,320 Farmers' Market
$3,000 McHenry County Heatwave
$3,000 Mozart Folk Festival
$2,000 Jazz on the Square
$1,000 Horses of a Different Color
$500 Off-Square Music
$500 Woodstock Folk Festival

There were 13 requests submitted to the City, totalling $97,520.

Distributions from the City cannot be used for operating expenses, such as salaries. But isn't this an unenforceable restriction and perhaps not even a wise one? All an organization need do is state it will not use monies received for "operating expenses" and then shift funds which had been used for covered expenses over to pay for operating expenses.

I tried to understand the reference to an allocation to the Opera House, which last year got $30,000 and again this year might get the same, but out of a different line item in the budget.

What really brings "tourism" to Woodstock? What is going to cause the downtown area to come back to life and to stay alive? And what, really, is "tourism"?

Even though it's a relative pittance of $3,000, why should there be any distribution of a girls' (age 10-18) softball league? Or to the Farmers' Market? Or even the Groundhog Days Committee, which stands to get $5,000? Or to Chamber of Commerce, which ought to be supported solely from membership dues and member activities?