Tourism committee proposes bed‑tax plan and Route 66 centennial line item

Tourism director Kelly O’Malley outlined a proposed plan for the city’s $135,000 bed‑tax revenue at the June 11 budget workshop and asked the board to confirm which items should come from that dedicated fund. O’Malley recommended $10,000 for the tourism commission contingency, $47,500 for marketing and promotions (of which $25,100 was identified for a named event), $15,000 for events (Easter egg hunt, fall festival and clean‑up day), $8,000 for museum exhibits and $10,000 as a required contribution toward a $100,000 matching grant for the Red Cedar gift shop.

She also proposed a $24,000 line for Route 66 Centennial planning and asked that it be set aside as its own line item because the centennial will generate separate revenues and expenditures. "10,000 of it would just go to the tourism commission," O’Malley said when listing bed‑tax priorities. Aldermen asked staff to zero‑out duplicate lines and confirmed tourism’s request to reallocate $45,000 of marketing funds from a Red Cedar line to a general marketing line to cover broader town promotions.

Partnership contract and events: Aldermen discussed a proposed $32,000 partnership contract for downtown promotion; tourism favors contributing $10,000 from bed‑tax with the remainder to be found elsewhere in the budget. The board also confirmed rodeo and fireworks expenses need to be represented in the tourism fund so those costs are transparent to voters and the grant/audit record.

Next steps: Staff were asked to insert a distinct Route 66 Centennial line in the revised worksheet, to confirm which costs tourism will fund from bed‑tax revenue and to identify any other revenue sources for partnership and rodeo obligations before the next meeting.