During
the first few months of 2018, the city of Visalia has been involved in a number
of substantial matters which don't always appear in the local press. That is why I write this monthly article, to
keep you informed. While other towns and
governing boards seem to be filling the printed page lately, Visalia and our
city council continue to quietly make progress and serve our citizens. The following are a number of recent items
you might find interesting:
VISALIA
SENIOR GAMES
The
3rd annual Visalia Senior Games were again a success. We had 520 participants, with 111 coming from
Visalia, 287 from our region (Madera County to Kern County), and others from
various parts of California, together with four competitors from Texas, Oregon,
Washington and Arizona. Local retired
businessman Don Overstreet, a golfer, gets the award for being the oldest
participant this year, at age 91. I enjoyed shedding about 10 pounds in
training for the games, and did well in the shot put and triple jump events. City councilman Greg Collins competed in
various swimming events. The largest competition was again in pickleball, which
had a record 136 participants, with 100 participants in softball, 54 in track
and field, and 38 in swimming. A special
thanks goes to Jostens which again donated the cost of our printed program.
Other senior games will be hosted by the Bay area, Pasadena, the Sonoma Wine
Country, San Diego, and the Inland Empire from April through September
2018. If you didn't join with us this
year, make 2019 the year that you get off the couch, turn off the t.v., and get
back into shape. Thanks also to our
community volunteers and the Parks and Recreation Dept. for making this event a
repeat success.
CONVENTION
AND VISITORS BUREAU
We
recently received a report from our CVB.
In 2017, the actualized economic impact of tourism in Visalia was $7.1
million dollars relating to convention center conferences. Attendees at these events average 3.1 nights
of hotel stay here. Additionally, this
resulted in 8,621 hotel/motel room nights, up 46.8% from 2016. The types of organizations that book our
convention center include religious (e.g., Great Western Fan Fest, Time Out For
Women), sports (high school Girls Wrestling State Finals), and fraternal (Order
of the Eastern Star). The convention
center’s 2018 calendar is quickly filling up.
New groups for 2018 include a YMCA conference, the California
Superintendents Association, the Diocese of Fresno and the Department of
Corrections. The transient occupancy tax
collected by these hotel stays have increased from $1.8 million in 2011 to $2.6
million in 2017. For those of you who
have attended conventions in big cities, you know how frenzied and rushed those
can feel, particularly when dealing with rush hour traffic, crowds and just
getting around town for various events.
I believe that more and more small and mid-sized conventions are looking
for communities such as Visalia, which has a beautiful convention center and
wonderful amenities, without losing that small town feel.
FINANCIAL
REPORT UPDATE
Soon
the city council will start crunching numbers and reviewing programs to come up
with a new two-year budget beginning July 1, 2018. The city council recently
reviewed our progress for budget year 2017/18.
If projections hold true, it is anticipated that at the end of this
fiscal year, we will have a $4,407,965.00 budget surplus! This surplus is the result of revenues being
up from what we budgeted by $2.8 million, and expenditures being less than we
anticipated by $2.2 million. Sales taxes
revenues were up 2.5% and property tax revenues by the same amount. Our emergency reserves will increase to $14.9
million by the end of this budget cycle, which equals 25% of operating
expenditures. The city council adopted a
policy that all surpluses are to first be deposited into reserves to maintain
our emergency reserves at 25% of operating expenditures. Any remaining surplus then will be deposited
into the Civic Center reserve fund for future purposes.
However,
not everything in the report was rosey.
There are some signs of an economic slowdown, in that building permits
are down over prior years, and houses are remaining on the market longer. Additionally, the city's contribution to our
employees' retirement system will increase annually by approximately one
million dollars over the next several years.
Depending on whether there is an economic downturn, it may be much more
difficult for future city councils to balance their budgets.
ST.
PADDY'S DAY PARADE
Kudos
to our local Breakfast Lions Club for putting on the biggest and best Visalia
St. Paddy's Day Parade yet! This year there
were 66 entries. My wife and I were in
the parade again this year, and it was obvious to us that the crowds were the
largest which we've seen.
My
next MEET THE MAYOR office hours will be May 10. Call 713-4535 for an appointment.
Mayor
Warren Gubler
Dir
