REVENUE FROM LICENSE OFFICES DOWN SLIGHTLY

Gross revenue for the Cape Girardeau and Jackson license bureaus for the fourth quarter of 1993 was down slightly compared with the same period the previous year, financial records show.

Still, the bureaus could net a combined profit of about $35,000 for the Southeast Missouri University Foundation by June 30, foundation officials said.

The June 30 date would mark the end of the fiscal year and the first nine months of operation of the fee offices by the foundation. The foundation took over operation of the license bureau offices last October.

"We do know there is a net profit, that is for sure," said Ken Dobbins, executive vice president of Southeast Missouri State University and treasurer of the fund-raising foundation.

"The bottom line should be better the second year because we will have a full year and no start-up costs," said Dobbins.

For an entire fiscal year, it's estimated the fee offices would generate a combined profit of about $50,000, said Dobbins.

"We are right on budget," Dobbins said.

"It's not like winning the lottery," observed Dobbins. "But don't get me wrong, that's significant dollars that can be used to support the foundation."

He said it was initially estimated that the foundation's startup costs for the license bureaus would total about $35,000. "It has ended up being about $20,000 and that includes computer upgrades," said Dobbins.

The startup costs included buying the equipment and furnishings in the Cape license bureau from the chamber. But purchase and installation of a new computer system in the Cape Girardeau office comprised the bulk of the startup cost, said Norma Wildman, who manages the two license offices.

"There had been a computer system here for accounting only," said Wildman. With the new system, transactions are entered directly into the computer system.

Jackson's computer system, on the other hand, is strictly for accounting. "They are a smaller office," she explained.

The fourth quarter of 1993 comprises the first three months of operation of the license bureaus by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

Gov. Mel Carnahan last fall awarded the fee offices to the foundation.

Prior to that, for a dozen years under Republican governors, the license fee offices had been operated by the Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce.

The actions of Carnahan and that of the foundation's board of directors sparked controversy, with two regents, chamber members and a number of foundation members expressing unhappiness about the whole affair.

In October, November and December combined, the Cape Girardeau license bureau had gross receipts for the foundation of $27,555, said Dobbins.

The gross revenue total reflects a drop of about 10 percent from the $30,835 in fourth quarter revenue in 1992, when the Cape Girardeau chamber operated it.

The Jackson license bureau garnered $9,580 in gross revenue for the foundation during the last three months of last year, down about 17 percent from the $11,582 the previous year, when the Jackson chamber operated it.

Foundation officials didn't disclose any monthly revenue figures for the last quarter of last year or the first two months of this year.

"I am not going to give you a complete balance sheet," Dobbins told a Southeast Missourian reporter.

Dobbins said that what he looks at are the quarterly receipts.

Quarterly receipts give a better picture of finances, he said. On a monthly basis, he explained, there can be fluctuations.

Wildman said the foundation didn't take over operation of the two offices until Oct. 5.

Had the foundation been operating the bureaus for the entire fourth quarter, the revenue would have been higher, she and Dobbins said.

The license bureaus do much of their business at the beginning and the end of each month, Wildman said.

Financial records provided by the two chambers of commerce also show that gross receipts are typically lower in November and December than in other months.

The gross revenue figures refer to the fees received previously by the chambers and now by the foundation for operating the license bureaus. Wildman said most of the money generated by the motor vehicle license and driver's license transactions goes to the state.

"We charge $1.50 per transaction on the motor vehicle side," said Wildman. For each driver's license transaction, the foundation receives $2.

The gross receipts are used to fund the operation of the two bureaus, including paying salaries and other expenses.

Dobbins said he believes the foundation will end up with gross receipts similar to what the chambers experienced in recent years.

According to figures provided by the Cape chamber, the local license bureau generated gross revenue for the chamber of $136,121 in 1991, $145,554 in 1992, and $116,080 for the nine months that the organization operated the facility in 1993.

Jackson's fee office had gross revenue of $55,511 in 1991, $57,703 in 1992 and $48,476 during the nine months that the Jackson chamber operated the facility last year, records provided by that organization show.