From a lengthy article in the Madison Courier:
The mayor should be in
charge of economic development not only for the city but also for the county,
the mayor's blue ribbon panel recommended in the draft of its report, which was
released Tuesday.
The panel also recommended that casino
money that is earmarked for economic development be put into a fund that the
mayor and three other elected officials would control instead of paying it to
Economic Development Partners in a contract for EDP to provide an economic
development director.
A new executive position of
director-economic development should be created as a full-time job in city
government, the panel recommended. The director would be employed by the
four-member group of elected officials and answer to the mayor, the report
said.
The four-member group, named the Growth Council,
would be made up of the mayor, who would chair the group, the president of the
City Council, the president of the County Council and the chairman of the county
commissioners, the report said.
The Growth Council would
manage an Economic Development Fund where all economic development money would
go, and a city-county operating fund where money currently given to Economic
Development Partners would be deposited to pay the Growth Council's costs. Fees
the panel proposed also would go into the fund.
Money
for the fund would come from several sources, including membership fees that
businesses, organizations and individuals would pay annually to be part of the
effort, and the 5 percent "bed tax" or innkeeper's tax on
overnight lodging. Revenue from the bed tax, under state law, must go to
a separate entity such as Jefferson County's Board of Tourism and be spent only
on tourism-related costs. The bed tax supports Visit Madison, the
convention and visitors bureau, and helps fund Madison Chautauqua of Art, River
Roots, and Ribberfest.
The panel's report said the
Growth Board, while staying within the law, would "influence expenditures and
investments" of the bed tax.
...
The panel's recommendation is that the
public not be told about any loans or other incentives until an announcement is
made that a loan or other incentive has been granted. The panel said only
successes should be publicly announced, not attempts and failures. It appears
from the panel's report that the public also would not have a role in forming
and updating the long-range plan, unless people were involved in one of the
groups and paid fees.
...
See the full article here:
http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=70408&SectionID=178&SubSectionID=964&S=1
Here is a link to the Blue Ribbon Report provided by the Courier:
http://madisoncourier.com/ftp/specialsections/EDRP_BlueRibbon_Draft.pdf
