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Alpine council weighs using hotel-tax reserves to cover grant recommendations as collections fall
Summary
City tourism director told council a conservative hotel-occupancy-tax forecast leaves a $153,000 funding gap for recommended grants; he proposed subsidizing this year from a roughly $460,000 fund balance and revisiting allocations next fiscal year. Council asked the committee to reconvene and asked for clearer fund accounting before July 7.
Chris Ruggia, Alpine’s director of tourism, told the city council the hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) committee’s recommended grant budget totals about $368,000 while a conservative revenue forecast would leave roughly $364,000 available for promotions and grants without dipping into reserves. Ruggia said the committee observed an 8% year-to-date collection drop and recommended planning for a 10% decline, which would set available program funds at about $364,000 and create a $153,000 gap against the packet recommendations.
Ruggia recommended using part of the HOT fund balance to make up the shortfall this year while tightening next year’s allocations. He told council staff had preliminary figures from audits showing about $460,000 in HOT fund balance and outlined fixed yearly costs he accounted for — personnel (~$202,000), facilities (~$43,000) and a fiscal/administrative fee (estimated ~$48,000) — leaving the remainder for grants and promotions.
Several council members pressed for clearer accounting and faster timetable to decide. Councilmember Stevens asked how much the contract and past purchases total and requested explicit budget comparisons; others pressed on the composition of the fiscal fee and the effect of military-exempt rooms on taxable inventory. Ruggia said the committee could reconvene to adjust recommendations if council sets a revised target and asked for a decision as soon as feasible so grant applicants know expectations.
The council did not adopt a final funding change at the meeting; members discussed options including (1) cutting grant recommendations to fit the lower forecast, (2) subsidizing some or all of the recommended grants from fund balance, or (3) setting a specific contingency reserve (Ruggia and one council member suggested maintaining about $100,000). Ruggia said he could reconvene the HOT committee and return with a revised recommendation and the city could place the item on the July 7 agenda if council wanted more time.
Why it matters: HOT grants support local festivals, promotions and events that generate tourism revenue and visibility for Alpine. Choosing to spend reserves this year would preserve programming but reduce the city’s cushion for future downturns; cutting grant awards would reduce programming available to local groups that apply for HOT funds.
Next steps: The council asked staff to schedule the HOT-committee follow-up and indicated a preference to review revised recommendations at the July 7 meeting so the budget and grant process can proceed before the next fiscal year.
