Dixon band funding still up for debate

DIXON – The Dixon City Council is still deciding whether to give full funding to the city band or cut its budget.

In the last two months, the council has debated giving the Dixon Municipal Band its full $21,000 allocation, rather than cutting it in half to about $10,000, which a majority of council members were originally in favor of.

The council has received letters from current band leaders and alumni on the importance of the band to the community and the need for city support.

Councilman Dennis Considine, who’s advocated for full funding, said the issue is the “elephant in the ear that’s playing the trombone.”

The plan was to give the band $10,000 this year because there’s only around $21,000 left in a fund earmarked for the band, and the council has emphasized the group’s need to raise funds to become more self-sustainable.

Councilman Mike Venier has argued that even though it’s uncertain what kind of season the band will be able to organize because of COVID-19, they should have funding available to put on events that people can enjoy coming out of the pandemic.

Venier said Monday he had proposed a compromise between the council and band leadership of $15,000.

The difference between $15,000 and $20,000 is pretty small, Considine said.

“I understand that we’re compromising, but we’re still nit-picking over a de minimis amount,” Considine said. “It’s not like we don’t have the money.”

Mayor Li Arellano Jr. has argued that discretionary funding is continuing to get squeezed every year, and funding the band would take away from other needs.

Arellano said he has a different proposal and would speak with the council and band about it this week.

The city has also considered using funding from a pocket of $100,000 that would go toward an arts and culture fund, and they’ve also talked about charging the community for special performances, such as shows at the Dixon Historic Theatre.

The city has cut band funding during the last few years - it was $40,000 around five years ago - and the band began fundraising about three years ago to become more sustainable.

The band has existed in one form or another since 1851, and the city can levy property tax dollars to fund the band, but has not done so since 2014 in order to prioritize other expenses under the tight cap of the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law.