A couple of times over the past year, I've heard negative remarks about the WEEK-TV webcam mounted on the Observation Tower. Well, actually the complaints have been over the cost of the same, which is $1,500.00/month, paid for by the Village. I'll give you one guess as to which Peoria Heights political party this complainer belongs to. To the casual observer, that would appear to be quite a waste of money, particularly in these times. However, the reason why the Board approved the payment for the camera was not for the camera itself, but for the advertising that the camera brings with it.
The WEEK website has two spots available for the Heights to advertise what is going on in the community, for that $1,500.00 a month. Tens of thousands of people check out those webcams every month. On top of that, the on-air personalities on WEEK and WHOI give a number of "plugs" for the Village each and every day. All because we have the webcam. You might ask, why on Earth does the Heights NEED to advertise? Well, if advertising didn't work, no one would do it. And, as you can tell from the media around you, LOTS of entities advertise.
The bulk of our operating monies come from sales tax revenue. We get next to nothing from property tax. So, if we have a strong and viable business district, we will continue to have a strong and viable Village. It's really that simple. We have given money over the past few years to the Chamber of Commerce to advertise the Village: through billboards, TV and radio spots, through travel magazines, etc. And, it has paid off. During the very sluggish economy since 2006 into the full scale depression of 2009, we have hung in there. While some communities have seen their sales tax revenues drop by as much as 25-30%, ours grew each and every year until 2009, when the revenues dropped by around 8%.
Was advertising the sole cause for this? Of course not. But, there is no doubt it has played a major part. We are in competition with every community around us for the buying public's dollars. Advertising helps to draw people in from outside the community... new customers, so to speak. The Tower Park Music Fest on paper loses around $7,000-9,000 each year. But, that's just on paper. It brings people in, there is no doubt. Many of those people will purchase items while in Peoria Heights; others will like what they see, and return when they have more time. By doing so, they will generate sales tax revenue for the Village; revenue which we otherwise would not have had. A quick comparison? Sales tax revenues in fiscal year 2003-2004 were $1,088,928.00. In fiscal year 2006-2007, they jumped to $1,294,598.00, a 19% BUMP in that 3 year period. Yes, a bit of that would be from simple inflation, perhaps 3 or 4%; but there is no doubt that a sizable chunk of that remaining 15 to 16% can be directly tied to our ADVERTISING our Village.
In many areas, the Heights was quite static before we took office in May 2005. I believe the changes since then have been substantial and progressive. We intend to keep this going, and the advertising exposure generated by the Tower webcam is an example of what communities must do in the 21st Century, to try and stay ahead of the game. We have too much to lose if we falter.
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