Tax board fund reallocation proposed

Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board vice president and secretary Al Patel made a formal proposal during its meeting Wednesday to reallocate the board's promotion and executive funds that would free up more money to support events in Tucumcari and possibly establish a Tucumcari Visitors Center on Route 66.

Patel's document also floats several other new ideas on what to do with that additional money, including hiring a social-media coordinator, expanding the number of billboards and creating a new, big event in Tucumcari.

Motel tax funds currently are split between the board's promotional and executive sides. Patel advocated that promotional receive 60% of the revenue, which would result in an increase of $63,000.

In addition, Patel also recommended a split of covering the Tucumcari Convention Center's annual operations and maintenance costs of about $182,000, which currently all are covered entirely by the promotional side. A split would free up $91,000 for promotions.

In total, Patel's plan would give an additional $154,000 for promotions.

His plan broke down how those additional funds might be used:

• Hiring a social-media coordinator, $24,000, with a promotional budget of $10,000;

• Expanding Tucumcari promotional billboards to within 500 miles of the city, $20,000;

• More funding to promote existing events, $20,000;

• Funding to promote a “big production” or new event, $40,000;

• Phase 1 of a Tucumcari Visitors Center, $40,000.

For the visitors’ center, Patel recommended finding a location on east Route 66 and merge it with the existing New Mexico Route 66 Museum, which would free up space at the convention center. He said it would allow more space for the museum and justify an increase in the admission price.

Patel said the operating and staffing costs would be covered by a combination of lodgers tax funding, admissions, gift-shop sales, rent, advertising opportunities and fundraising.

He said he understood the proposal might change after consultation with city officials and the commission. But he wanted to present the plan early enough so it could be debated in January and February before the city crafts its preliminary annual budget in March.

In other business Wednesday:

• Vicki Watson gave a report about new billboards for the Tucumcari Railroad Museum. She said those billboards likely resulted in a 31% increase in visitors at the museum. She said there are no plans to add personnel to increase the museum's hours or add an entry fee to boost revenue. Board members, including chairman Larry Smith of Motel Safari, have criticized the museum’s lack of hours. Tucumcari MainStreet executive director Connie Loveland added she greeted 196 people at her office since June who wanted to go into the museum, but it was closed.

• Loveland presented a post-event report about the Fired Up festival in September, which reported a 6% increase in attendance. She said she planned to reduce the number of entryways to the festival area to one to keep better track of visitor counts. Loveland said her office would expand its marketing of the festival into the Texas Panhandle and would work more closely with the Wheels on Fire 100 bicycle race the same weekend to encourage racers to stay an additional day so they could attend the festival.

• Joanie Griffin of the Sunny505 in Albuquerque gave an in-person mid-year update on the marketing firm's tourism marketing efforts for the city. She said New Mexico True, part of the state's tourism arm, will get a boost in spending of several hundred thousands of dollars. Sunny505 is preparing more ads for Tucumcari's disc-golf course at Five Mile Park.

• City Commissioner Todd Duplantis, a liaison for the commission, suggested more billboards to promote Tucumcari and more advertising on television or online, including the Fast TV Network that has a Route 66 channel.

• The board welcomed new members Mike Castelli of Blaze-in-Saddle RV Park and Lila Doughty of the Palomino Motel.