Chamber gets a financial boost

By next spring, the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber of Commerce should have more funds for its marketing.

Based on a request from the chamber to both the cities of Sun Valley and Ketchum for an increase in its annual appropriation, Sun Valley chose to grant an increase in local-option tax proceeds to the chamber at the close of the fiscal year at the end of September.

In the past, Sun Valley city administrator Bob VanNort said, the city gave 22 percent of its option tax proceeds to the chamber. That number will now be 25 percent.

The decision came at a Sun Valley City Council meeting Thursday. The city of Ketchum has not yet visited the issue in its budget discussions, which will kick off at noon tomorrow.

Sun Valley’s decision means the city will tally its year’s option-tax proceeds and give 25 percent of that to the chamber in May of 2000.

Because Sun Valley’s option tax was raised in last November’s election to 3 percent from 2 percent, it is projected that the city will gain about an additional $450,000 in local option-tax revenues by the close of the city’s current fiscal year in September, VanNort said. The 1-percent increase became effective on January 1 of this year.

Based on that figure, and added to what the chamber was given from last year’s option-tax proceeds, the chamber will receive approximately $270,000 from the city, starting in the new fiscal year, Oct. 1. Last year, the chamber received about $227,000 in option tax proceeds from the city.

Chamber director Carol Waller said the increase will be channeled into marketing.

According to chamber board president Kurt Nelson, the increased allocation from the city will benefit it as well as the chamber. The more successful marketing efforts are, the better businesses will do, which means the city will collect more in option-tax proceeds, he said.

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Following budget discussions on Thursday, the council held its regular monthly meeting. In that meeting, the council announced that the position of mayor and two of the city council positions will be up for reelection on November 2 of this year.

Mayor Tom Praggastis indicated that he will likely not return to his post after serving for two terms on the city council and one as mayor. Council members Jim Dowen and David Wilson have their seats up for reelection.