Aransas Pass council postpones HOT-fund decision for Coastal Cowboys TV project until contract is secured

Aransas Pass — The City Council voted to delay action on a hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) funding request tied to a proposed reality-TV series, Coastal Cowboys, after commissioners and staff said the application lacked the contractual and measurable tourism guarantees required by state law.

Siobhan Allen, representing the Coastal Cowboys production team, told the council the project has filmed extensively in Aransas Pass and that producers were seeking $57,000 to underwrite marketing and destination-integration deliverables for season one. Allen said the production has paid roughly $47,000 per episode for initial filming and proposed using HOT funds in Category C (advertising and marketing) to create short-form and longer promotional content that would be “woven into the storyline” and include a clickable call-to-action to guide viewers to book local lodging.

“Right now you’re poised as the gateway to the Coastal Bend,” Allen said. “This platform can put Aransas Pass in front of 8 to 14 million viewers per episode and give the city evergreen marketing that a billboard cannot match.”

City staff, the city attorney and outside advisors including the Texas Hotel & Lodging Association cautioned that HOT revenue cannot be used to cover production costs and that grant awards must be tied to the statutory list of allowable expenditures and to demonstrable increases in overnight stays. City staff recommended waiting until a binding distribution agreement is in hand and deliverables are contractually secured so the city — and auditors — can verify that funds would be spent solely on marketing that produces out-of-town room nights.

Joshua Deharina, who said he had consulted statewide contacts, urged the council to be especially conservative. “This is the state’s money,” Deharina said. “Your investment decisions must be tied to measurable tourism outcomes. Without a distribution agreement and contractually secured destination integration, it’s not possible for us to invest.”

Producers said they had competitive offers from multiple networks and that the production team retained significant ownership and approval rights, which they said would protect Aransas Pass’ placement in finished episodes. They also offered to seek a conditional, earmarked allocation that would be payable only if the show reached a signed network deal. City staff advised that earmarking public funds for a contingency still creates audit risk unless the contract and the marketing deliverables are sufficiently specified.

After extended discussion and legal counsel, Council Member [unnamed on the record] moved to postpone the HOT-funds request until the production provides a signed distribution contract and a revised application that details destination-integration deliverables and measurable room-night benchmarks. The motion carried.

What happens next: The Coastal Cowboys team said they expect network decisions within weeks. Producers and staff agreed to return to council with the contract, any required legal documentation and a revised HOT-fund application showing the specific marketing deliverables the city would receive if funding is approved.

Why it matters: HOT funds are restricted by statute to projects that generate overnight stays by nonresidents. The council’s decision reflects concern about audit risk and about ensuring public funds are spent only on verifiable tourism marketing rather than on production costs that primarily benefit the show’s creators.