Main Street Highland Park 2006 Budget Questions

The 2006 budget proposed by Main Street Highland Park needs a great deal of explanation. Below are some of key questions, with page numbers from the budget document. An overriding concern is, why is Main Street moving from using volunteers to privatizing everything? First it was the Street Fair, then the Main Street newsletter, and now we have the hiring of an Event Planner. The Main Street program is supposed to be by local residents and businesses and for local residents and businesses. Instead, we in Highland Park have a movement by the Main Street leadership toward patronage and wasteful spending of commercial property owners' hard -earned tax dollars on program and events that should be run at the grassroots level.

(Page 1) Why was the BID assessment increased by $5,000, from $150,000 to $155,000? What is the average commercial property owner’s BID assessment per year under the new rate?
$18,500 is budgeted for potential relocation of the Main Street office. What specific costs is this meant to cover (down payment, rent, etc.)?
Administrative/Project Support allocation is being doubled from $15,000 in 2005 to $30,000 in 2006? Why? How many people are currently employed by Main Street and at what salaries? How does this compare with the number of people employed by Main Street in 2005? If more staff was hired, why?
$1,000 is budgeted for conference travel. Is this for Board members or for Graham Copeland? Is it for travel to the National Main Streets conference?
The allocation for Program Expense: Design is being increased from $87,500 in 2005 to $98,000 in 2006. Why? What does the additional cost cover?
The allocation for Program Expense: Organization is being increased by a huge amount, from $8,750 in 2005 to $26,300. Why such a huge increase? Where is this money going?
(Page 2) Under Design, $12,000 is earmarked as “to be done by borough.” What is this for, and is it being funded by grants or through the municipal budget?
Under Economic Revitalization, the allocation for Business Opportunity Resource Package is more than doubled, from $900 in 2005 to $2,000 in 2006. Why? Where is this money going?
Under Economic Revitalization, the allocation for Web Enablement of Local Businesses is being more than doubled, from $2,000 in 2005 to $5,000 in 2006. Why? Where is this money going?
Under Organization, the allocation for the list serve is being increased by a huge amount, from $200 in 2005 to $1,150 in 2006. Why such a huge increase?
Under Organization, expenditure for the newsletter is being increased from $5,200 in 2005 to $7,500. Why? Why was the newsletter outsourced to a private PR firm instead of continued as a volunteer project?
Under Organization, $10,000 is allocated to Jaffe Communications for “General PR,” with no itemization of specific costs (there was no such expenditure in 2005). What does “General PR” entail? Why do we need a private firm to do it instead of volunteers? This is a lot of money to spend on PR.
Under Promotions, the allocation for Autumn in the Park is being increased from $3,600 to $5,100. Why?
Under Promotions, the allocation for the Arts Festival is being increased by a huge amount, from $3,600 in 2005 to $12,500 in 2006. Why are we increasing spending this much for a one-day festival that was successfully organized by volunteers last year? What specific costs does this amount cover?
Under Promotions, the allocation for Street Events is being increased from $1,000 in 2005 to $5,000 in 2006. Why such a huge increase, and what specifically is it funding?
Under Promotions, $10,000 is being allocated for an Event Planner (there was no such expenditure in 2005). I understand this is for the Arts Festival. Why do we need to pay a private event planner such a huge amount, especially when we are already allocating $12,500 for this event? Why is this expense needed at all when volunteers successfully planned the event in 2005?