Vermont tourism office says $350,000 base budget cut followed internal reallocation to 'Grow Grants'

Lindsay Curley, secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, told the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee on May 7 that the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) lost about $350,000 from its base budget after an internal reallocation intended to expand regional "Grow Grants" was treated as an increase during budget conference and removed.

Curley said the department moved existing operating funds into a line item for Grow Grants — a program she described as supporting local and regional efforts to recruit and retain workers, including healthcare workers, hospitality employees and educators. "It wasn't new money. It's just moving our money around," Curley said, explaining the change was meant to provide grants to underserved counties such as Lamoille, Grand Isle and parts of the Northeast Kingdom.

The nut of Curley's message to the committee was fiscal scale and risk: VDTM's statewide marketing budget is "under 5,000,000" dollars, she said, while neighboring states spend far more — New York about $60 million, Massachusetts $16.7 million and New Hampshire $14 million. Curley also said tourism supports "31,000 jobs, that's 10% of our state," and brings in about $4,000,000,000 in annual spending.

Curley described the Grow Grants as originally funded with a one-time $1,300,000 allocation, later partly placed into the base (she said there was subsequently about $500,000 in base funding), and then supplemented by reallocating amounts from the department's advertising budget so more regions could participate. She told the committee those internal transfers "arguably kind of called attention to something that we didn't need to show" and that conferees in the appropriations process appeared to interpret the move as a net increase.

Committee members asked for program data and outcomes. Curley said she could provide reporting figures from regions that used the grants and cited Rutland and Bennington as places that found the grants helpful for recruiting and retention; she said final reporting is required of grant recipients. Curley also said the department had raised the issue with both House and Senate appropriations staff and would press conferees in ongoing negotiations to restore the funding to the department's base budget.

The discussion was descriptive and procedural; there were no motions or formal committee actions reported during the exchange. Curley urged the committee to consider the timing and market implications given declining Canadian visitation and stressed the department's limited marketing resources.

Curley said she would continue to press the conferees to address the cut and provide the committee with program data upon request.