Branson finance committee reviews preliminary 2024 finances; seeks clearer tourism-tax reporting

Lisonbee, finance staff, presented preliminary November 2024 financial reports to the Branson Finance Committee and said the city budgeted $15,500,000 for 1% city sales-tax receipts and recorded $15,600,000 in collections for 2024. Tourism-tax receipts were reported at $17,873,000 against a budget of $17,800,000.

The presentation covered preliminary, not-finalized numbers: staff said year-end accruals and a 13th-period close remain pending and the figures shown were subject to change when staff completes those entries. After bond payments, available sales-tax-related funds were reported at $12,500,000, a figure Lisonbee said was about $68,000 higher than 2023. Lisonbee also told the committee, “We do not expect a budget surplus by the end of the year... and if we see a surplus, it will be less than a 100,000 by the time we do our accruals.”

Why it matters: Branson’s tourism tax funds local marketing and programming, including payments to the Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). Committee members said that without a clearer, timely…