Residents urge Lampasas council to preserve "Christmas on the Creek" lights as funding, HOT rules are debated

Residents, volunteers and local nonprofits pressed the Lampasas City Council to preserve and support the city’s "Christmas on the Creek" holiday-light event during a public hearing on the proposed FY2025–26 budget.

Brenda Barrett, a member of the Vision Lampasas board of directors and the Christmas on the Creek committee, told the council the event is a major community draw and that the parks department’s work is central to running it. "We could not do it without them," Barrett said, asking the council to consider ways to sustain the event as volunteers and funds have become strained.

The petitioners’ case rested on two practical points: rising costs and volunteer burnout. An attendee recounted changes in 2016 when the city assumed responsibility for paying labor costs for the displays, citing increased contractor and electrician requirements, safety regulations and recurring maintenance and vandalism. "The city funded the labor," the speaker said, adding that contracting certified installers improved safety and reliability but shifted costs to the municipal budget.

Council members and staff discussed how the event could be funded. An unidentified staff member explained that hotel occupancy tax (HOT) revenues can be used only when the expenditure demonstrably increases "heads and beds"—that is, hotel stays tied to the event. "The law allows you to use those funds that are generated by people staying in hotels," the staff member said. "However, it does need to show that it leads to more heads and beds."

Staff and community members floated procedural fixes: requiring future HOT applicants to provide a pre- and post-event survey showing visitor origin, splitting costs so HOT covers only the portion that can be shown to generate overnight stays, and expanding fundraising timelines. Community volunteers offered to help collect survey data; one commenter said large fundraisers can take about six months to organize and urged the council to approve this year’s budget now and pursue fundraising afterward.

Several public commenters described direct program benefits for youth and families. Michelle Karnak, identifying herself as a local Girl Scout leader, said her troop operates a booth funded from its own funds and that the lights enable free family activities during the holiday event. "It gives our community this hometown feeling that we all long for during the holiday season," Karnak said.

The council did not take a final funding vote on the event during the public hearing; discussion pointed toward two likely next steps: staff return with clear guidance on procurement and ordinance constraints (including the three-bid requirement noted by council) and a possible requirement that future HOT-funded applicants supply visitor-impact surveys.

If the council pursues HOT funding for the event, staff advised documenting how any HOT allocation generates overnight visitation; if not, the council and community members discussed mixed funding strategies that combine city support, community fundraising and in-kind services from the parks department.

The public hearing on the FY2025–26 budget continued as other agenda items proceeded.