City Revenues from Corn Fest 2011

Author: yinn

Aug 8

We need for DeKalb to collect, at minimum, about $30,000 in Corn Fest annual revenues on behalf of DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport (DTMA) because that’s what city administrators told the FAA it would do.

They also said they’d put these revenues, consisting of sales taxes and parking fees, directly into the airport fund instead of dumping them into the General Fund and making transfers. They have not yet made this change, so I requested the numbers through the Freedom of Information Act.

Make the jump to see how well we’ve done. Read the rest of this entry

7 Comments
Filed under: Council/City Watch | Tagged as: , , ,

Corn Fest Financials Through 2010

Author: yinn

Jul 18

ear of cornDeKalb Corn Fest was lucky to have funds in reserve when it moved from the downtown to DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport in 2008.

YearRevenuesExpensesGain/LossGrants
Given		Ending
Fund
Balance
2004129,016153,600-24,584?25,805
2005174,734140,83933,895?59,700
2006183,392163,69819,69425,20079,394
2007167,509156,17411,3353,00090,699
2008160,999178,519-17,5204,00073,179
2009183,662184,376-1,01430072,165
2010155,804171,748-15,944None56,221

Except for the “Lady Antebellum boost” in 2009, revenues have been trending downward. Revenues are no longer itemized on the tax forms, so we don’t know which categories have gotten hit.

The expense story is not so mysterious: expenses jumped with the move to the airport because site costs rose from $20,000 to $38,000.

It will be interesting to get last year’s numbers to see what effect, if any, the new parking fees had on the bottom line. You will recall that the City of DeKalb, not Corn Fest, benefits from the parking fees; nevertheless they could still affect attendance and spending.

Source: Foundation Center 990 Finder

2 Comments
Filed under: Community Resources | Tagged as: ,

Progress at the Airport

Author: yinn

Jul 14

I decided to see if DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport has made progress in growing its non-governmental revenues now that it has added fuel sales and new tenants.

Below is a table showing the primary revenue category, rentals, along with the newbie, fuel sales. These are not the only non-governmental revenues, but the remainder combined don’t normally top $20,000.

Selected Airport
Non-Governmental
Revenues & Costs->

Fiscal Year		Rental
Income		Fuel
Sales		Fuel
Costs
2006274,9000--
2007225,1000--
2008255,5000--
2009253,7000--
2010240,8970--
2011267,000135,700186,850
2012350,600375,000333,000
2013360,000393,750350,000

Hangar rentals seem to have recovered from a slump and, assuming the FY2012 estimate and FY2013 projection are accurate, rental income is now showing some growth.

Fuel sales are expected to net $43,750 this year. Will that kind of revenue take-off cover the compensation of the employees they’ve hired to pump fuel? Let’s look. Read the rest of this entry

0 Comments
Filed under: Council/City Watch | Tagged as: ,

DeKalb’s Airport as a Grant Funding Priority

Author: yinn

Jul 10

Was the Daley Policy Group initially hired just to get money for the DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport, or are airport grants simply the low-hanging fruit in DC?

Grants for DeKalb by Daley Group

Over the past 20 years:

  • At least 20 separate airport projects were funded, compared to seven non-airport-related projects

  • $28.6 million, which is 68% of the total grant/earmark dollars, went to DTMA
    • 1 Comment
    Filed under: Council/City Watch, Payment Due? | Tagged as:

    Well. Finally.

    Author: yinn

    Oct 9

    The DeKalb City Council is getting close to approving a DeKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport (DTMA) Marketing Plan. (See here, starting on p. 5.) The proposal is a concise and informative 15 pages. I found the SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) more direct and insightful than I think we would have gotten in-house, so maybe hiring Hopkins was a good move.

    I do want to point out that the move to prod the city toward a marketing plan started right here at citybarbs in 2008. That was the year people such as myself made the airport an issue as a money pit at budget hearings. I also made it part of my mayoral campaign.

    If you think it’s too much to claim credit for the idea, I challenge you to explain how the airport had gone so long without a plan, but after a bunch of residents made noise publicly it’s finally accomplished.

    My main aim, though, is not to crow about it but to demonstrate that over the long haul it’s worth it to make the noise, credited or not. Sometimes it gets results.

    0 Comments
    Filed under: Council/City Watch | Tagged as:

    More on Corn Fest & Parking Fees

    Author: yinn

    Jul 16

    Here’s a piece of an e-mail from an FAA official to the City of DeKalb about FAA requirements for holding Corn Fest at the airport, which DeKalb County Online got hold of in May:

    Of particular importance is the amount of money received by the airport from the event. This MUST be some form of Fair Market Value revenue received from the event and put into the airport operations fund. Failure to do so could put the airport in noncompliance with its Grant Assurances. IDA/FAA may request proof of payment to ensure compliance. I would also add that a token sum of something like $500/day or $1,000/day for what appears to be a pretty big event is not considered Fair Market Value.

    In early June, the FAA official recapped an agreement made during a meeting with the City of DeKalb:

    - There will be a charge for parking for the event. A daily and/or weekend charge/fee was mentioned. Based on historical attendance figures, this could lead to revenue to the airport ranging between $30k to $50K. Also, you mentioned in the previous years’ events that the sales tax collected at the event went back into the airport budget. These two sources of income (if close to the estimated amount) would, in my opinion, be considered Fair Market Value for a 3-day event.

    Then the Chronicle editorial said this*: Read the rest of this entry

    5 Comments
    Filed under: Council/City Watch | Tagged as: , ,

    FY2012 Budget Questions Answered

    Author: yinn

    Jun 19

    If you watched the DeKalb City Council meeting last Monday, you know that I had prepared questions for the public hearing but was prohibited from asking them.

    So I sent the questions to Laura Pisarcik, who was hired as the central purchasing person but who now seems to be acting as an assistant city manager, at least as concerns the budget. Emboldened answers are taken verbatim from response e-mail. Read the rest of this entry

    2 Comments
    Filed under: Council/City Watch | Tagged as: ,

    Even More Airport Trouble

    Author: yinn

    Jun 1

    DeKalb County Online has scooped everyone once again with the story of a lawsuit filed by Midwest Flight Academy, Inc., against DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport manager Tom Cleveland.

    The complaint is centered around Cleveland’s treatment of Midwest that allegedly differed from his treatment of Fly America, including the claim that under similar circumstances, Midwest was required to submit a business plan but Fly America was not.

    (Hmmm. Does DTMA have a business plan yet?)

    Congrats to DeKalb County Online.

    Visit the airport tag for similar and/or related posts.

    0 Comments
    Filed under: Council/City Watch | Tagged as: ,

    More Trouble for DeKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport

    Author: yinn

    May 27

    DeKalb County Online has the scoop, in the form of an e-mail from the FAA:

    Partial closures, which I hear Corn Fest is, still requires approval by FAA. And if Corn Fest has previously been held at DKB and closed part of the airport for a weekend, I would say that it should have been coordinated.

    [...]

    Of particular importance is the amount of money received by the airport from the event. This MUST be some form of Fair Market Value revenue received from the event and put into the airport operations fund. Failure to do so could put the airport in noncompliance with its Grant Assurances. IDA/FAA may request proof of payment to ensure compliance. I would also add that a token sum of something like $500/day or $1,000/day for what appears to be a pretty big event is not considered Fair Market Value.

    How did we end up with an airport manager who does not know that a) closures of the airport must have prior approval and b) the airport is supposed to be a money-making venture.

    1 Comment
    Filed under: Council/City Watch | Tagged as: ,

    FY2012 Budget Comments, Smart-Alecky Edition

    Author: yinn

    May 3

    The proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 is now available. I’ve just begun reading it. Here are a few reactions so far.

    [From the 2025 Vision Statement] Its downtown is the heart of the community…

    Translation: We hate that the Super Wal-Mart is the closest thing DeKalb has to a town square. Read the rest of this entry

    0 Comments
    Filed under: Council/City Watch, Snark/Humor, TIF | Tagged as: , ,
    View more posts »