Butte-Silver Bow TBID outlines $395,000 expected budget, schedules Oct. 1 public hearing

Kelly Hazlett Tibbitt, executive secretary for the Butte-Silver Bow Tourism Business Improvement District, presented the TBID’s work plan and budget to the council Sept. 24 and asked the council to schedule a presentation and a public hearing on the district’s plan. Tibbitt said the TBID expects to receive about $395,000 beginning in January under current assessment levels and outlined how the district proposes to allocate funds for grants and marketing."This year ... we will receive around $395,000 this coming January," Tibbitt said. She described grant and budget categories including event and tournament grants ($35,000), meetings and groups (about $20,000), leisure promotion (about $40,000), festivals ($65,000), special product projects ($50,000) and maintaining a reserve balance (about $25,000). Tibbitt said the budget also includes funding for the TBID administrator's position, which the TBID splits with the state Convention and Visitors Bureau. On applications, she said the TBID requires applicants to estimate "heads and beds" (projected overnight stays) and that the TBID weights that estimate significantly in scoring—"probably 20 to 30%"—which has led to concerns among applicants about how to calculate room-night estimates. Tibbitt described two regular application cycles: a winter cycle that opens Jan. 1 and closes Jan. 31, and a summer cycle that typically opens in May and closes in May or June; she said special applications can be considered if the board president opens a cycle with TBID staff support. Commissioners asked about the application form and how applicants estimate lodging nights; Tibbitt said TBID staff work with event organizers and hoteliers to develop reasonable estimates but conceded the estimates can be difficult when events do not coordinate with lodging early enough. The TBID also provides $25,000 to Advantage Butte to support events and works with Advantage Butte on overages for larger sporting events. The council was told a public hearing on the TBID plan is scheduled for Oct. 1 at 7:30 a.m. (the hearing will appear on the council agenda next week). The communication requesting the presentation and public hearing was placed on the agenda; no formal vote to adopt the TBID budget was recorded in the excerpt. "We are trying to work on the grant application being clearer that it's only for marketing," Tibbitt said, describing changes to application guidance. The council and TBID staff agreed to continue the process through the scheduled public hearing and the board’s application cycles.