Dixon Municipal Band hoping for full season, guest artists

DIXON — The Dixon Municipal Band is gearing up for a full season this year and is hoping to add special performances in the future.

It was a transitional year for the band coming back for a shortened season because of COVID-19 restrictions, and the group performed six shows, band business manager Chris Hammitt said.

The band brought in $35,000 through its fundraising efforts and is asking the Dixon City Council for $25,000.

The goal is to have nine shows from June to August for the band’s summer series. Future plans would be to have guest artists and to do a special spring show at the Dixon Historic Theatre.

Last year, there were months of debate among council members about cutting the band’s funding. The city has reduced its funding for the band for several years, and there were arguments about decreasing funding from $21,000 to $10,000. The council compromised with allocating $15,000.

For the last few years, the council has advised band leadership that it needs to step up fundraising efforts to become more self-sustainable, with concerns that the city isn’t bringing in enough revenue and the band would be competing with other line items in the budget.

The city can levy property tax dollars to fund the band, but has not done so since 2014 in order to prioritize other expenses such as pensions, and the city is tax-capped by the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law.

The council plans to discuss the band’s $25,000 request later this month, and the city’s fiscal year 2023 budget will be finalized in April.