County staff told commissioners they will revise transient room tax (TRT) application language to clarify who can apply and what projects are eligible, with the goal of preventing ineligible private residence requests from reaching the TRT board.

Staff recommended allocating $405,000 to the TRT board for competitive applications to support county-owned museums (including Crystal Mill and a Wendover site) and other tourism projects. “We had $405,000 is what we were gonna allow the TRT board for those applications,” a staff presenter said, noting the board had been budgeted $300,000 the prior year.

On capital projects, staff proposed a $100,000 contingency to assess whether the senior center can support a full rooftop HVAC installation, citing potential structural reinforcement costs. The county also obtained a contractor quote for meeting-room sound improvements and reduced a placeholder from $50,000 to $35,000 as a realistic cost estimate for dropping microphones and related work.

Councilors also discussed budget lines for an America250 celebration, with one member expressing concern that a $200,000 allocation would be excessive and suggesting a lower figure; staff said roughly $100,000 of that amount was intended for event staging and additional funds for promotional items.

Staff said several capital items will remain in the draft budget and can be removed or amended at the next full meeting if the full quorum prefers changes.