Moab tourism office outlines 2026 budget, flags reserve and staffing questions

Moab tourism office staff presented a draft 2026 budget during the Milan Tourism Advisory Board’s Sept. 23 workshop and described projected Tourism-Recreation-Tax (TRT) revenue, fund-balance constraints and program lines the office expects to fund.

Brian Martinez, Grand Valley Commission, summarized preliminary projections saying the TRT projection for 2026 “is gonna be $8,153,618,” with promotion estimated at roughly $3,623,830 and mitigation—programmatic or mitigation spending—at about $4,529,777. Martinez also reported an estimated reserve account of about $3,410,000 and flagged an estimated fund-balance upper limit near $4.079 million.

Staff told the board that some accounts historically underspend and that the county finance staff had recommended managing fund balance so the budget remains within legal limits. Board members discussed Gabe’s advice (county finance) that, historically, the department underspends and that conservatively budgeting for reserve changes is prudent; staff said records and an audit are underway to identify how prior balances were attributed among promotion, film and convention allocations.

Office staff reviewed detailed lines in the 2026 draft: subscriptions and memberships (Conde Nast, Outside, Wall Street Journal, Bridal Industry Association, U.S. Travel Association and Outdoor Industry Association), professional/technical services (Mailchimp, CrowdRiff), creative services (branding and contract work tied to the 2026 rebrand), paid-media costs (the Madden recommendation was included), website costs (Simpleview contract and a roughly $10,000 estimate to update visual branding), reprinting travel guides and smaller items such as postage, merchandise and familiarization tours.

Board members asked several substantive questions: whether creative/account support proposed by Madden would be an amendment to that agency’s contract; whether imagery and photo/video production should be budgeted now; how email contacts and first-party data are being captured; and whether carryover funds historically labeled for recreation, film and convention could be used for promotion under the new statutory framework discussed (HB 456 and related TRT rules were referenced by staff).

Multiple board members also asked about staffing lines: the 2026 proposed salaries and benefits figures reflect HR-controlled lines and a director position remains unfilled. Staff said hiring a director will prompt further staffing and salary decisions and that the office does not want the board to make staff-level hiring decisions directly. Board members asked staff to supply recommended staffing figures (including any proposed part-time or full-time hires) so the advisory board can include them in its recommendation to the county commissioners.

Ending: Staff will revise the draft and provide updated budget language for the board’s October meeting. The board also asked county finance to clarify fund-balance attributions for prior years so the advisory recommendation to the commission can reflect which reserves are available for promotion versus mitigation.