Transient guest tax committee approves roughly $52,100 for NOTO district murals, signage and programming

The Transient Guest Tax Committee voted April 23 to forward a resolution to the Topeka City Council to allocate $52,114.06 in remaining transient guest tax funds to the NOTO Arts and Entertainment District for public art, signage, lighting and seasonal programming.

The committee chair, Michelle Hofer, opened the meeting and asked for a motion on the resolution after a public presentation by Pedro Concepcion, CEO of the NOTO Arts and Entertainment District. "We've been advocating for some sort of funding for years," Concepcion said, adding that NOTO would use the funds for murals, wayfinding, lighting under the Kansas Avenue bridge and low-cost, high-impact events.

The committee's decision followed several members' support for the application and discussion about measuring the return on the investment. Christina, a committee member, said, "I've never known NOTO to use money unwisely," and urged accountability. A separate committee member, Curtis, urged stronger outcome tracking and said a heavily weighted selection factor historically has been an applicant's ability to "track any return on the investment." Sean, the committee member representing tourism/hospitality interests, told the group, "we do need to be mindful of return on investment with this money or we lose the money from lack of activity."

Spencer Duncan, Councilman for District 8, seconded the motion and said he wished the allocation could be larger but supported using the available funds now. The chair recorded the motion, a second and verbal aye votes; the motion passed. Hofer told Concepcion the committee will notify him when the item reaches a City Council agenda, likely May 6 or May 13.

Committee members also requested follow-up information from staff. Councilman Duncan asked staff to prepare a chart showing each multi-year TGT contract or project, how much has been paid to date, the remaining contracted amount and projections for whether the contracts will be fully funded before their term ends. Staff said they will provide updated figures after the next transient guest tax distribution arrives and circulate those numbers for review prior to the next committee meeting.

Background: The funding allocation comes from a remaining transient guest tax balance generated under earlier program rules (the committee referenced a balance of approximately $52,114.06). Concepcion cited NOTO's recent awards and activities, saying the district works with local business owners on events such as First Friday music, a woodchip market and chalk walk and that modest funding can be leveraged to sustain and enhance those efforts.

The committee's action is procedural: it approves forwarding the resolution to the City Council for final action. Hofer said committee staff will alert NOTO when the resolution appears on the council agenda so Concepcion can be prepared to answer questions at that meeting.

Votes at a glance: A resolution to allocate $52,114.06 in transient guest tax funds to the NOTO Arts and Entertainment District was moved by Christina (committee member), seconded by Councilman Spencer Duncan and approved by the committee by unanimous voice vote. The item will be scheduled for City Council consideration in May.

What to expect next: Staff will provide a financial status chart of existing TGT contracts and projected collections; the resolution will go to the Topeka City Council for final approval (May 6 or May 13, to be confirmed).