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The Manchester Coffee Conference Center is requesting $548,457 from the City of Manchester for its new budget, an increase of$48,457 from the current operating budget of $500,000.

The request was made to the Budget Committee April 24, which rejected the proposal and asked the Manchester Public Building Authority, which is the Conference Center’s governing body, to cut 10% as it had asked of all other departments.

Conference Center General Manager Rebecca French said the number represents an honest budget without any frills or fluffs.

The fixed expense of the center’s operation expenses is $554,202. Center revenues amount to $135,121. The depreciation on the building adds $29,376 to the budget, while grants and county contributions are planned to offset the request by $118,000.

French told the committee that a heavy chunk of the budget comes from maintenance on the building that has had little work completed on it over the last 21 years.

Summarizing the budget, capital projects are listed as $218,000, with $100,000 of that which could come from the county. (The county still owns half the building after the city took over the operating expense of the center. French said that talks are positive with the county concerning the allocation of funds for fixed building costs).

Meanwhile labor is divided into Variable Labor (the staff pulled in for an event) and the full-time daily workers. The variable labor is estimated to cost $210,000 while the five daily staff costs $392,402 a year.

The center’s projections anticipate pulling in just shy of $500,000 from events. Food costs amount to $69,100. When the center’s labor, advertising and other expenses are factored in, the final number in income amounts to a positive $135,121.

On a separate side of the budget, fixed expenses like payroll for administrative personnel, insurance and utilities bring total expenses to $554,202.

The center listed $218,000 in capital requests. These include $10,000 for new tables, $8,000 for wallpaper, $20,000 for the roof, $22,000 for the parking lot, $8,000 for lobby floor tiles, $20,000 for audio/visual equipment, $30,000 for restrooms and airwalls and $100,000 in new HVAC units to replace seven existing units.

The Manchester Coffee County Conference Center projects that the county will collaborate with the city on the HVAC units.

The center’s goals for the next year include reaching a net income of $499,000 and to create an economic impact of 1,000 hotel rooms booked into the area. This figure affects county and city coffers due to the lodging tax which collects 2.5% for the county added to occupancy tax rates – 6% in Manchester and 5% in Tullahoma – resulting in 8.5% for Manchester and 7.5%.