The Taylorville Finance Committee and Ordinance Committee met on Thursday evening for a 90-minute session to discuss budgets, BDD Application Reviews, and more importantly the future of Downtown/Small Town Taylorville and whether or not the budget would include them this fiscal year. Dyanne Skinner with Small Town Taylorville (STT) gave a presentation to start the discussion and informed the public who attended the meeting. She presented the budget ideas for advertising moving forward and said that the community would miss STT if it wasn’t there.
Alderman Randy Mitchelson opened up the floor for comments and asked that the two sides try not to repeat each other but to bring up new and valid points. Justin Griffin, Wanda Crowder, and Lee Skinner spoke out in support of STT receiving BDD funds. Justin Griffin says that STT is extremely important.
Opposed to STT receiving BDD funds included Pat Kretzer, Jerry Cocagne, and Shannon Boston. Pat Kretzer says he’s not opposed to STT but he is opposed to the organization receiving BDD funds.
No motion was made at the committee meeting. Randy Mitchelson did speak on the issue and says that many people he has spoken to feels that the focus on advertising should be on the community and not individual businesses.
Mitchelson says he has many concerns and has asked for changes in the organization and the mission. Budgets are still needed to be set for the upcoming fiscal year. The next city council meeting is set for May 20th.