Music center news: Innkeepers tax pays county back; lower mortgage payments extended

Entering the new year, as expenses continue to accumulate and schedule vacancies, the Brown County Music Center has attracted a lot of attention. Indoor live music performances are expected to begin later this year.

But the music center and its management team received some good news at the end of 2020: the bank holding the mortgage on the building is expected to pay no principal this year, only interest.

In June, Leedston National Bank, which holds the mortgage, allowed the venue to pay only interest, making the venue cost about $35,000 a month. The management team has been preparing to start the full payment of the $55,000 mortgage in early 2021.

Last March, due to COVID-19, this 2,000-seat venue was closed.

"If we go back to a place where we can get vaccinated and our lives return to normal as much as possible, then once we are able, I hope we can start paying the principal, but we only have this room to pay interest for the next 12 months." Diana Biddle (Diana Biddle) said at the committee meeting on January 6.

Resident Kevin Fleming asked whether the bank had frozen the mortgage interest amount. He said: "Even if only interest is paid, this will increase the payment level."

Biddle said she was not sure if she would increase interest. "The Securities and Exchange Commission is involved in these things to some extent. There will be some concessions. It's not just us, this is national," she said.

"Once we return to the principal-only payment method, we will study the remaining details."

The agreement stipulates that the county's loan to the music center last year will also be paid off before the end of 2020.

In April last year, the Brown County Council approved the transfer of US$150,000 from the county’s motor vehicle and highway fund to the county’s general fund. That money was used to pay the interest-only mortgage.

Initially, the plan was part of the US$239,000 to use the CARES Act, and the music center was scheduled to repay the loan. However, due to issues related to the memorandum, the county council did not approve the transfer of funds from the CARES Act to the music center at its December meeting.

Instead, the $150,000 was repaid to the county from the hotel owner’s tax fund at the end of the year. The chairman of the Convention and Visitors Committee, Kevin Otter, said that as of December 30, after the loan was repaid, the hotel owner’s tax fund was approximately $84,000. CVC is the board of directors that manages the hotel owner’s tax.

Aote also serves as the co-chairman of the music center management team.

At the January 19th meeting, the city council will vote to transfer $239,000 of CARES Act funds to the music center.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the county and the music center includes a repayment of $239,000 to BCMC, which was previously used by the county to hold jury trials and other functions, such as county council meetings.

The 2,000-seat auditorium allows some of these activities to be carried out in person, without the need for telephone or Zoom.

The Music Center also signed a memorandum of understanding with the commissioner and the Brown County Health Department that the building will be used as a COVID-19 testing site, temporary office space for health department nurses, and any health department training and health committee meetings. The compensation for this memorandum of understanding is set at US$20,000 and will come from grant funds, not from the CARES Act.

{span}The venue has been able to receive grants from various organizations. In addition to the $32,000 grant from the Indiana Arts Council, BCMC also received a $2,500 grant from the Independent Indiana Field League. Weber said on December 8 that IAC had asked him whether BCMC was eligible for a salary support grant of $3,200, and he had accepted it.

The coronavirus rescue plan recently approved by Congress includes $15 billion for music venues, and the Music Center also plans to seek funding from the rescue plan.

In December of last year, Christian Webb, the executive director of BCMC, told the management team that he had called Live Nation’s reservation representative, which is a company that prescribes national behavior for venues, and was told that it would not be until late March. Will perform. 2021.

Weber also said that the venue will consider postponing performances originally scheduled for spring and summer again, including the sold-out Willie Nelson concert scheduled for April.

If a new performance is planned in the third quarter of this year, it means that the venue can start selling tickets in late spring and early summer.

As another way to increase financial support for the music center, CVC is also working with the county's lawyers Barnes and Thornburg to develop legislation to increase taxes and fees for hotel owners. Currently, tourists are required to pay {span} 5% tax on overnight rent in the county.

{span}At the January 6th meeting, Biddle said that the legislation is still in progress. She said she suggested that the state government allow the county government to increase a certain percentage of the hotel owner's tax, "and allow the local county council to set the tax rate every year," she said.

Marion County has the highest hotel owner tax rate in the state, at 10%. In the discussion on tax increases, the percentages ranged from 8% to 10%, but the leaders said they would not increase them all at once.

"We will never say that it will reach 5% this year and 8% next year. In the next few years, this will be a gradual increase."

Commissioner Jerry Pittman (Jerry Pittman) said he likes the idea of ​​increasing the hotel owner’s tax because it is a tax that most residents do not pay. He said: "I will make a crazy guess that about 95% of it comes from the money of tourists in Brown County, not the money of Brown County citizens."

The 2021 legislative session began on January 4 and will end in late April.

As of last week, the Indiana State Assembly has not submitted any legislation to increase the county’s hotel owner tax.