Members of the Guymon Convention & Tourism Board discussed several budget and planning items at the May 16 meeting at Guymon City Hall, including the pool fund, small-business grant levels, mapping and calendar updates and preparations for a 2% hotel‑motel tax effort tied to 2027 funding.

Board members reviewed line items in their financial packet and asked staff for historical figures to inform budgeting. A participant noted the packet showed a pool-fund budget figure that “looks like $7,073,000 dollars,” and staff described the pool as typically operating at a loss that is offset by the board’s budgeted maintenance, lifeguard salaries and concession revenues. “The pool is not actually a moneymaker,” one staff speaker said.

Board members asked that staff provide prior-year expenditures for the pool, golf course and general fund lines and asked for a dedicated planning meeting to align annual budgeting with long-term goals for 2026 and 2027. The board discussed forming a smaller planning session with City staff — including a meeting with Mister Shannon to scope projects — before scheduling a public community meeting to gather broader input.

On grants, members said the current small-business grant of $5,000 is insufficient given construction-cost increases. “$5,000 really isn’t hitting where we need them to hit,” a board member said; board members noted they have set aside $25,000 in funds and asked staff to evaluate raising the grant cap to $10,000 and consider a budget adjustment.

Sheila, a staff member, told the board that the board’s mapping and calendar contract has been signed and that vendor work will update maps last revised in February 2021. The contractor (referred to in the meeting as Delta Day) met with staff and expects to return updated names and map data “in a couple of weeks.”

Board members also discussed the 2% hotel‑motel tax planning. Staff told the board that one tax expires in 2027 and that officials are compiling documentation now so that projects can be proposed and supported when the 2% funding cycle begins. Members requested to be involved in the planning work and in outreach that would promote projects to voters.

Board members asked staff to add specific items to the next meeting agenda: historical pool fund expenditures, a proposed schedule for a planning meeting with city staff and Mister Shannon, a review of the small-business grant size and criteria, and a status update on mapping and calendar deliverables.

No formal board action on changing grant amounts or on the 2% hotel‑motel tax was taken at the meeting; those items were set for follow-up and possible future action.