Grand County commissioners debate tourism-tax (TRT) spending after state auditor review; staff to tee up July amendment

Grand County county staff told commissioners on June 3 that recent work to reconcile tourism-related transient room tax (TRT) spending has uncovered items that may need to be moved or reimbursed and that the county will present a budget amendment in July to bring the books into balance.

Gabe, the county staff member presenting the packet, said updates to the June 3 budget summary include corrected line items and a revised total of unplanned general-fund expenses that, after accounting for capital projects and reimbursements, may require an amendment of $1,670,325. He also identified $1,413,596 estimated in fund 23 (TRT non-mitigation funds) that have allowable uses under current code, and said staff will examine historical allocations (2021–2024) to determine whether any earlier spending will be classified as promotion and therefore require reimbursement.

County legal counsel summarized interactions with the state auditor’s office and relayed the auditor’s guidance that the county should "stay away from the line," meaning expenditures supported by TRT should have a clear promotional element. Counsel said some categories of expense are more defensible under the code and offered to advise commissioners item-by-item on defensibility. "They indicated that the county shouldn't find themselves in that position," counsel said, reporting the auditor’s request that Grand County avoid ambiguous or borderline uses.

Several commissioners pushed for a cautious, compliance-first approach. Commissioner Brian (named in discussion) said the commission should accept a strict interpretation to reestablish confidence and secure future mitigation grants; another commissioner urged that the county pay identified reimbursements quickly to remove the auditor’s focus. Others asked for more comparison with peer counties and for staff to prepare defensibility documentation for contested items.

Gabe recommended the next steps: hold a public hearing at the first July meeting and present an official budget amendment at the second July meeting so the commission can adopt a balanced budget after any required transfers or reimbursements. He told the commission the amendment would likely reflect an increased contribution from the fund balance and said staff can also prepare proposals for cost-cutting across the budget if the commission wishes to pursue them.

The workshop closed without final action on specific line items; commissioners directed staff to provide clearer documentation on which items are considered promotion, which are questioned by staff/commission, and to prepare the amendment and public hearing materials for July.