Funding for annual Highland art festival remains in limbo as council weighs options

Funds for the Highland Art in the Park festival are on hold while the city council discusses how to reorganize the hotel-motel tax fund that supports tourist events in the city.

In this current budget year, the city allocated all the funds budgeted for supporting tourism and actually dipped into the reserves, according to city manager Chris Conrad. “We normally don’t have much in the way of reserves for (the) hotel-motel tax, but we currently have some excess from the COVID shutdown period,” Conrad said.

So the council is looking into the best way to allocate the funds within the budget, whether that would be first-come first-serve, a maximum grant allowance, percentage, etc.

“It’s a tough issue because these are purely discretionary funds the council can allocate, and the only restrictions are that no more than 5% can go toward city administration of the funds and you can’t use the dollars to lure another hotel,” Conrad said. “Otherwise they can be spent as the council sees fit on any event that brings people to town.”

The Art in the Park festival came up for its annual allocation March 6, and Councilman Rick Frey said he thought the decision should wait until after the restructuring of the program takes place.

“Every year we have more and more groups coming and they all deserve something,” Frey said.

But Councilman John Hipskind said it wasn’t fair to make the art festival wait when they’ve traditionally received a grant every year and had not increased their request.

“We have to provide some consistency toward them,” he said. “They have to plan these events and be able to rely on the city.”

Councilwoman Peggy Bellm said she would not be able to vote because she is often a vendor at the event. However, Bellem said it’s difficult to determine how they should allocate the funds.

“They’re all well-deserving groups, they all contribute to the culture of Highland and the quality of life here,” she said.

Hipskind said he thought the entire discussion of how to restructure the tourism grants should wait until there is a new council in place: Councilwoman Sarah Sloan, who was absent March 6, is up for re-election this spring and Hipskind is stepping down.

However, when the grant came up for a vote, Frey voted no and Bellm had to abstain. Hipskind and Mayor Kevin Hemann voted yes, but a majority was required, so the proposal will be reconsidered at a later meeting.

“I think they just want to make sure they are being fair to all who request those funds,” Conrad said. “It also can be difficult to budget because the amount of funds available are dependent upon how many hotel rooms are rented, so the number can fluctuate rather unexpectedly, even mid-year.”

Currently the projected amount of hotel-motel tax funds expected is about $45,000. By statute, those dollars can only be used for these tourism purposes and cannot be used for general city business.

More council news, Art in the Park

The council did vote to continue its membership in Discover Downstate Illinois, which is also paid out of hotel-motel tax funds. Membership in the tourism bureau is $1,500 a year and provides marketing for Highland events throughout 22 counties of southern Illinois, discounted advertisements in visitors’ guides and digital marketing, and media buy discounts for promotional materials. The vote was 3-1, with Hipskind voting no and Hemann voting with the majority.

Highland Art in the Park will take place Friday, Oct. 13, through Sunday, Oct. 15, in Lindendale Park this year, with an expected attendance of 7,000 people. The Highland Arts Council, which organizes the event, had requested $8,000 in assistance. The rest of its funding comes from individual donations, grants and private business donations, including Edward Jones, the Highland Rotary and St. Louis Homes & Lifestyle Magazine.