Perrysburg Council OKs resolution to fund farmers market

PERRYSBURG – The city has settled on an option that may save its market days.

“Let’s be clear, there will be a farmers market next year, there is no question about that. The question is how is it funded so it is run in an effective manner,” said Mayor Tom Mackin.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the majority of council approved a resolution to increase the share of a hotel tax given to Visit Perrysburg by 60% and waive safety and service fees for the first 30 events operated by the agency.

Council members Jan Materni and Timothy McCarthy voted against the motion, which passed 5-2.

McCarthy said preferred taking the market in house and running it with qualified city staff, including its own marketing director.

“I’m just puzzled why we don’t take it in,” he said. “Let’s run it. I think we can find the staff the run these events.”

There has not been an event that was turned into a government job that stayed successful, Councilman Cory Kuhlman said.

“Planning our own events is a terrible idea,” he said. “That’s a recipe for disaster.”

Materni said every single government entity charges fees, and some villages and towns have contractors that run farmers markets and they do a good job.

The future of the city’s farmers market, which has been around for 23 years, became an issue when the Visit Perrysburg board voted last fall to stop the event, due in part to the fees imposed by the city.

Up until 2022, the city did not charge for police and trash service for the weekly event.

Mackin said that in 2022, the cost of providing those services went up, which raised the question of whether the city should use general funds, which are taxpayer dollars, or bill the event providers.

The city charged Visit Perrysburg $10,186 in 2022; this year’s number has not yet been determined but is estimated around $16,000.

In October 2022, the Visit Perrysburg board voted to begin an exit plan to find another entity to take over the event.

No one else was interested as long as the fees remained, Visit Perrysburg Executive Director Christine Best said at past meetings.

Kuhlman said he didn’t recall any council discussion before the invoices were sent out. Council President Jonathan Smith asked if fees can be set by administration outside council authority.

“You sent those invoices (and) I didn’t know about it because I would have told you that’s a terrible idea,” Kuhlman said.

The real issue relevant to this council is to how to best move forward, Mackin said.

The city currently splits 50-50 with Visit Perrysburg proceeds from a 3% hotel tax. Half amounts to $365,000; giving Visit Perrysburg an additional 10% would equal around $73,000, Smith said.

Kuhlman asked how the city’s half was being spent.

It goes into the general fund to pay for services provided for the entire community, Mackin said.

“You’re saying that you want to shift some of that. I disagree with that philosophy,” Mackin said. “I think the City of Perrysburg taxpayers are taxed sufficiently and they should not have money taken out of their pocket for something that is and always has been generally a cost associated with bringing tourism to the community.”

The agency’s original request was for 70%, or $150,000, with the intent to use the funds to hire a marketing coordinator, take over the city’s holiday parades and add a three-day arts festival.

Kuhlman said the city should allow Best hire someone she can teach to run the market, which will free up her time to focus on promoting the city as a tourism destination.

“I would much rather give them the resources to be able to let Christine focus on those things and maintain what they’re doing,” he said.

Materni said she didn’t support the resolution because the other two options hadn’t been discussed.

Other options included adding a 0.75% hotel tax and splitting the proceeds, estimated at $187,500, 50-50 between the city and Visit Perrysburg; and the mayor’s proposal, which was for a 2% increase in the hotel tax and then accept bids from agencies interested in managing the market and possibly other events.

The primary reason Visit Perrysburg no longer wants to support the market all started with the fees, Best said at Tuesday’s meeting.

“It wasn’t understood they were coming … and it wasn’t in our budget,” she said.

The agency did a cost analysis for running the market; fees from the vendors go toward salaries, liability, marketing and promotions.

Visit Perrysburg’s mission is tourism, with the understanding that citizens deserve to have amazing events. All that can be done with additional funds, Best said.

“We love the market, and we want it to continue, we just knew in its current configuration with those fees and the time expected to put it on, it wasn’t fiscally responsible for us to continue it,” Best said.

Councilman Kevin Fuller said he didn’t want to leave the meeting without clear directives for legislation to support the market.

He said he was very reluctant to run it in house, since support will still come out of the general fund.

“I’ve seen us spend money on sillier things than $16,000 annually,” he said.

Tuesday’s potential solution also included Visit Perrysburg adding fireworks back into its budget, contributing $15,000 toward the holiday display and getting recognition for the contribution.

Smith said it was not inappropriate for council members to explore other options and bring them to the next meeting, which is Sept. 5.

Discussion on Tuesday’s resolution will continue at that meeting.