Commissioners give informal support for Placer AI tourism data purchase; formal approval to follow

Scotts Bluff County commissioners on Tuesday indicated informal support for a three‑year purchase of Placer AI, a location‑data analytics service the county tourism committee unanimously approved earlier.

Chairman Charlie told the board the tourism committee “voted to agree to purchase a software called Placer AI, a 3 year agreement, $25,000 the first year, $27,000 the second year, and $30,000 the third year.” He said those costs would be split in half with a partner organization, TCD, and that the county’s portion would be paid from tourism funds.

The tourism committee recommended the purchase to allow data‑driven decisions about events and marketing. Commissioners and staff described Placer AI as anonymized, cell‑location data that can show where visitors originate, how long they stay and what businesses or hotels they visit. Charlie said the software can “see our ROI on tourism spend” by, for example, showing whether event attendees stayed overnight or drove elsewhere for lodging.

County staff said the tourism committee’s vote was unanimous but that the purchase exceeded the county’s $10,000 approval threshold and therefore requires formal action by the board. Charlie asked for a nonbinding “straw poll” so he could report support to TCD ahead of that group’s meeting; he said the board would ratify the purchase at the next commissioners meeting.

Commissioners discussed privacy; a sheriff’s office representative asked how the software treats out‑of‑area phones. A tourism proponent explained the vendor uses anonymized patterns and “knows where that cell phone sleeps” without providing individual addresses. Commissioners noted other uses beyond tourism, including event evaluation and planning.

The county estimated the tourism fund share as: first year $12,500, second year roughly $13,500 (transcript shows “13 1,400 14,000” and was corrected in discussion), and third year $15,000; the tourism director said those amounts would come from tourism revenues and not general county funds. Board members said they would communicate support to TCD on Wednesday and bring a formal approval item to the next meeting.

The tourism committee and the county intend to use the software for event evaluation, lodging and visitor origin analysis, and to support recruitment of businesses or sponsors. Staff discussed hiring interns to assist with data analysis in summer months.

No binding county contract was approved at Tuesday’s meeting; commissioners limited their action to an informal expression of support and agreed to place a formal ratification on a future agenda.