GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE — Ashtabula County commissioners Daniel Claypool and Peggy Carlo asked the county’s Convention Facilities Authority, Friday morning, to give any available funds from the bed tax to the county to assist with lodge debt this year.
“That would be the most helpful way to help us,” Claypool told the Convention Facilities Authority (CFA) members. “This year, that money would help us as we go down the road of meeting our obligations.”
CFA members expressed no interest in taking up the matter Friday, and commissioners left without a commitment, at least for now.
“We have to figure out what we think is in the best interest of everybody,” said Stuart Cordell, CFA treasurer, after the meeting. He said CFA’s role is to assist with management of the lodge and appropriate the bed-tax money assigned to it. He expects CFA’s 2009 receipts from that tax to be around $220,000.
“We have to decide what’s the best use of that money, where do we get the best leverage on the dollar. It’s too early to commit at this time,” Cordell said.
Commissioners are looking under every stone in search of money to keep county services running in the face of a $3 million drop in revenues. In past years, CFA has contributed bed-tax money toward lodge debt, about $600,000 overall, said Cordell.
The county assumed the $7.3 million debt that CFA took on to furnish the lodge. The principal was rolled over last year, and commissioners are working with a bond attorney to determine whether to roll it over again in 2010 or seek financing in the bond market, which would obligate the county to principal and interest payments.
Commissioners have $450,000 in their “transfers out” line item for debt service on the lodge. During a work session Thursday, they briefly considered the scenario of paying down the principal on that debt to free up some cash, which could be appropriated to elected officials. When questioned about that proposal by a CFA member Friday, Claypool assured the group that the money set aside for lodge debt won’t be diverted to other uses. The county paid the accrued interest on the $7.3 million debt last year, but nothing toward the principal.
“Either way (rolling over the debt or amortizing it), we want to pay down the principal this year,” Claypool said.
The county’s annual payments on lodge debt total about $1.2 million, with the balance coming from real-estate millage set aside for bond retirement.
Cordell said the CFA does not have any projects on tap for 2010. A committee has been investigating construction of a concrete pad for a wedding tent, but no reports were given on that proposal Friday.
Last year, the CFA spent about $130,000 to build an outdoor dining area at the lodge. Jeannette Petrolia, the lodge general manager, reported that outdoor dining helped boost business at the lodge last summer.
In August, the lodge saw a 31 percent increase in diners and a 13 percent increase in food, and a 12 percent increase in bar sales.
“We really feel the Terrace Grille made an impact on our operations,” she said.
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