County Council Pushes Ad Authorities for More Airport Spending

Reviewing and approving budgets for Volusia County’s three tourism advertising authorities is normally a fairly straightforward process. But the County Council is sending the agencies back to the drawing board to come up with more money to promote Daytona Beach International Airport in their spending plans.

The three entities – the Halifax Area Advertising Authority, the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority and the West Volusia Advertising Authority – submitted budgets totaling $28.3 million to promote their respective areas, including funds related to the airport but the numbers didn’t add up for Councilmember David Santiago.

“We need all hands on deck with real serious commitments to this airport,” Santiago said. “We’re making significant investments as a Council and I want to make sure our partners are doing the same thing.”

Lori Campbell Baker, executive director of the Halifax Area Advertising Authority, said in the current fiscal year her organization is spending $50,000 of the $150,000 budgeted for the airport and is prepared to increase that amount.

“We are 100% committed to the airport because it means so much to us when we are trying to book business,” she said.

Santiago said the $150,000 amount in the new fiscal year budget from the Halifax Area Advertising Authority is not enough.

“I think $150,000 is too low,” he said. “We are now a market that airlines are seeing what we’re doing here.

Santiago said while he does not want to hurt the advertising authorities’ efforts, he made motion to table the budget approvals until the County Council’s Sept. 17 meeting to give the organizations time to hold board meetings and increase the budget amount for the airport.

“The (budget) number is way too low,” he said. “Join us in this big investment we have in the airport.”

While he voted in favor of the motion to table, Council Chairman Jeff Brower said he was a little concerned with pushing the decision on the budgets until September.

“I don’t think we should be setting the dollar amount for you,” he said. “II have a level of trust to send you back with an approved budget and have you come back. The concern I have (is) that we’re knocking on the door of Oct. 1” when the new fiscal year begins.

The motion to table the budget approval until the mid-September meeting passed unanimously.