The Pecos City Council voted May 8 to begin a process of absorbing the local Convention & Visitors Bureau functions into city government and to redirect CVB funding to a city-operated department.

City Manager Charles Lino told council the city already has a fund in its chart of accounts and could establish a city CVB department and hire a director who would report to city management. He said the city would implement the CVB as a department and that the decision would be timed to the budget cycle so the department’s funding could be included in next year’s budget.

Council members discussed whether the chamber of commerce’s CVB function should be decertified or separated; staff said they do not have authority to dissolve the chamber’s corporation but that council is not obligated to continue providing CVB funding to the chamber. In practical terms the vote means future CVB funding could be paid directly to the city department rather than through the chamber.

Council approved a motion to implement the CVB through the city and to direct staff to work on procedures and transitions. Staff said the chamber’s current CVB board and staffing arrangements would be separate and that any former CVB director could apply for the new city position through the standard hiring process.

Why it matters: moving the CVB into city government gives council direct budgetary oversight of tourism and marketing programs and aligns those expenditures with municipal priorities going into the budget season. Council members said the change would allow the city to “control” the advertising and tourism functions and reserve hotel occupancy tax and related funds for city-directed tourism promotion.

What was decided: the council voted to begin implementing the CVB as a city department; staff are to draft procedures and present a budget proposal during the regular budget process.

Quotes in this article are taken from the council meeting transcript and are attributed only to speakers who spoke on the record during the May 8 meeting.