Wednesday, November 16, 2005
The city may begin taxing entertainers who appear at the convocation center.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- City officials are working on a proposal to reduce costs paid to police officers who provide security and traffic control for the convocation center without reducing the strong police presence in and near the facility.
City Finance Director David Bozanich said he is comparing security and traffic control costs for the convocation center to industry standards and should have a recommendation to Mayor George M. McKelvey in about a week.
Bozanich is reviewing costs by Youngstown police, the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department and private security firms.
Having Youngstown officers remain in charge of the center's security and traffic control is the preferred choice, but "we want the cost to be more reasonable," Bozanich said.
One option is to have the city-owned center enter into a contract with the police department, McKelvey said.
Currently, Youngstown police officers receive overtime -- typically at the rate of time and a half of their hourly salary -- for working in and near the center. The per-hour overtime rate ranges from $27.45 for some patrolmen to $51.73 an hour for captains. Officers switch between overtime pay and accumulated time, hours banked to be used as time off at a later date, when handling security in and traffic control outside the convocation center.
Safety a priority
With this facility, McKelvey said that one of his top priorities was to make sure center patrons feel safe coming downtown and that having a police presence is vital to achieving that goal.
"I accept any and all criticism for being committed to making a visit from concert-goers and hockey fans to our downtown a positive and safe experience," he said. "The positive attitude people have about the downtown is an outstanding return on our investment."
The police presence in and near the center is a "work in progress," and the city is looking at ways to improve the facility's operations, McKelvey said. Cutting police costs is a "a potential area of reducing" expenses, he said.
McKelvey said he much prefers answering questions about paying for police presence in and near the center compared with having to answer why someone was carjacked or robbed because of a lack of security.
"What price do you put on safety?" he asked.
It is up to the center's management team to determine how many officers are needed for various events at the facility, Bozanich said.
Income tax revenue
The city receives 2.75 percent income tax revenue from center employees, both full and part time, and the staff and players for the Youngstown SteelHounds, the minor-league hockey team that plays its home games at the facility.
That amount will be about $50,000 annually, Bozanich estimated.
Also, Dan Brott, the city's income tax commissioner, expects Youngstown to start collecting the income tax from entertainers who perform at the center for one or two shows.
"Entertainers here for one or two nights are not taxed by the city," he said. "But I expect it will be changed by the city after the first of next year."
That could be a decent amount of city revenue with some performers commanding appearance fees of $75,000 to $150,000.
The center opened last month, and the facility's construction cost is estimated at $45.38 million. A final construction cost of the facility won't be available until December.