Tourism fund slides show hotel‑occupancy tax falloff vs. budget and short‑term rental revenue lag

Staff told the council the tourism fund was tracking below the original FY25 budget by roughly 19% (a shortfall staff attributed to timing and short‑term‑rental registration patterns) and presented several proposed changes to tourism staffing and arts programming.

Revenue picture Staff said two new hotels came online later than projected and short‑term‑rental (STR) collections began several months after staff expected them to; staff said 180 STR properties had registered but that about 90 were consistently remitting tax. Using near‑term trends, staff estimated STR tax at roughly $150,000 annually unless registrations increase.

Spending and program requests Staff proposed converting a part‑time arts‑center staff role to full time to manage expanded programming and operations at the Georgetown Art Center, and a Main Street/downtown program manager position that staff proposed to split between the tourism fund (hotel‑occupancy tax) and JEDCO (economic development sales tax) to support downtown business recruitment and implementation of the downtown master plan. Staff also proposed replacement lighting at the arts center and other modest service requests.

Why it matters: Hotel‑occupancy tax is a common funding source for tourism and arts programs and can be sensitive to market timing; staff highlighted the difference between budget assumptions and actual receipts while proposing targeted trades to sustain downtown and arts operations.

Next steps Staff will incorporate the tourism fund changes in the proposed budget and continue to monitor STR registrations, hotel occupancy and HOT receipts.