Board rejects Internet advertising

SYCAMORE – The county will not allow advertising on its Web site, the DeKalb County Board decided Wednesday night.

A plan that would have allowed advertisements to appear on county Web pages was rejected by the DeKalb County Board in a 13-8 vote, with three members absent from the meeting.

The county's Finance Committee was approached by a Chicago-based company, Municipal Media Solutions, several months ago with a plan that would have generated up to $35,000 in the first six months of advertising, and up to $120,000 in 2011, vice president of sales Dan Schramm said in a phone interview.

Revenues would be shared, with the county receiving 65 or 70 percent of the pie. The revenue projections are based on the number of hits – around 200,000 a month – and projected population growth, he said.

While the Finance Committee unanimously recommended its approval, heavy opposition to the plan heard at Wednesday's meeting made it fizzle.

Richard Osborne, D-DeKalb, was concerned about the perception that "government is for sale."

"No matter how well protected you might be, you're not protected by the stupid thoughts that you'd be going out of your way to create by allowing advertising," he said.

While he said he supports seeking alternative sources of revenue to lessen the tax burden, Riley Oncken, R-Sycamore, said he didn't believe that this was the right source.

Other board members shared concerns of the staff time it would take to approve and monitor advertisements.

Finance Committee Chair Michael Haines, D-Kingston, who along with two other committee members switched their votes, said that the proposal had "lukewarm support" at the committee level, which dissolved after hearing the mood of other board members Wednesday.

Schramm said after the meeting that he hopes the county will reconsider the plan in the future.

The realm of advertising through municipal Web sites is new, with the first major push in Arizona in 2004, Schramm said.

As the DeKalb County Board's vote indicated, it has taken a while for governments to warm up to the idea.

"I think advertising had a certain stigma to it that prevented some government officials from wanting to explore that," Schramm said.

He stressed that Municipal Media Solutions caters to local businesses, with some regional and national advertising partners.

"An advantage to having more local businesses is these are the businesses that are right in the backyard of the site viewer," Schramm said. "To keep sales taxes within DeKalb County is a benefit not only to the county, but to the local business community."

Municipal Media Solutions formed in 2008, and is currently contracted with portions of the Cook County government and some townships in DuPage County, Schramm said. Agreements are pending in McHenry and Kankakee counties.