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Moab advisory board reviews how House Bill 456 will shift TRT and TRCCA funding
Summary
Staff presented an impact analysis of Utah House Bill 456 showing a reallocation of transient room tax (TRT) and TRCCA funds effective July 1 that will increase promotion dollars and change allowable uses; board members asked staff to produce cash‑flow breakdowns and to seek legal guidance on which carryover dollars may be spent.
David, a staff analyst for the Moab Office of Tourism, told the board the new law will change the split between promotion and mitigation and affect the tax rate.
"On July first of this year, the split that is currently set at 37/63% from promotion to mitigation... that's gonna shift to 44/56%," David said during the board's April 8 meeting, and he noted the bill also contemplates an increase in the statutory rate (from 4.25% to 4.5%) subject to later commission action.
The board pressed staff for details about carryover funds. Members repeatedly emphasized that money collected before July 1 will be governed by prior rules while money collected after that date will carry the new restrictions, creating two accounting pools that must be tracked separately.
Board members sought answers to three operational questions: (1) how much unrestricted cash is currently on hand, (2) how much of that balance was committed under prior strategies or contracts, and (3) what portion of the balance will be at risk of forfeiture under the statutory fund‑balance limits (the 10% figure was discussed as the commonly cited maximum). Several members asked staff to provide a quarter‑by‑quarter cash‑flow schedule showing available spend and amounts that must be expended to avoid loss.
Staff emphasized that some changes will require further action by the county commission and, where questions of statutory interpretation exist, consultation with the county attorney and state auditors. The board agreed to request precise accounting from staff and to consider a small subcommittee to reconcile pots of money and recommend spending timelines before larger policy decisions are made.
Next steps: staff will produce a cash‑flow/ledger view that separates the pre‑July 1 carryover balances from post‑July 1 collections, consult county legal counsel on spend authority for carryover funds, and present recommended timing for any necessary commission approvals.
