Lodgers tax board recommends $160K

The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board last week recommended almost $160,000 in assistance to varying events and projects for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

The recommendations are scheduled to go this week to the city commission, which can approve, modify or reject them.

A total of $117,087.29 in promotional funds from lodgers tax revenue would be used for varying projects, and another $42,300 in executive funds of lodgers taxes also would be spent.

The board approved these aid recommendations:

— Fired Up festival, $10,200;

— Rattler Reunion, $10,000;

— Mesalands Dinosaur Museum billboards, $17,000;

— Mesalands Community College fall rodeo, $13,460;

— Mower and tractor for Little League ballfields, $35,800;

— B’s Crew softball tournament, $1,887.29;

— Tucumcari Visitors Center, $31,000;

— Tucumcari tourism ads in varying magazines, $40,000.

Rattler Reunion originally requested $15,000, but board members thought a proposed $5,000 expenditure to rent two billboards for the August event was questionable.

The board rejected Mesalands’ request of $18,600 for a spring and fall concert that hadn’t been booked. It also rejected a $9,700 request for the Iron Pour event, which resumes on May 20-24 after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the college’s financial turmoil last year.

Mayor Mike Cherry, the city liaison on the board, noted lodgers tax revenue in recent months is lower compared to the previous year and said the commission probably would eye the recommendations cautiously.

“This could all change once we get a better handle on the budget,” he said.

Board member Al Patel, who owns the Desert Inn motel, primarily blamed higher gas prices for lower occupancy in the city’s hotels and motels.

The city commission recently hired an accounting firm to reconcile its financial records after the city went for several months without a finance director.

Organizers from most of the events and entities made presentations to explain their requests.

Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet that organizes Fired Up, said her proposed aid budget rose because she wants to use New Mexico True matching funds that require a $4,000 minimum. She said such an arrangement would advertise Fired Up throughout the state.

Loveland said she also plans to use more social media to advertise the festival, including to markets in Clovis, Albuquerque, Amarillo and Santa Rosa.

Kathy Segura, representing Rattler Reunion, said this year’s event will be “amped up a lot,” with an expected attendance between 500 and 700.

“I think we’ll have a record year as far as people coming in,” she said.

Segura said the reunion plans to erect eight new vinyl banners. The event spent $3,900 in lodgers tax funds last year.

Board Chairman Matt Bednorz said Fired Up and the Rattler Reunion perform well in documenting visitor numbers and recommended they be funded.

Josh McVey, presenting Mesalands, said the Iron Pour in May draws about 130 attendees from all over the world. He said the day when iron actually is poured is open to the public. But board members questioned the return on investment, and Cherry noted it was the first time the Iron Pour had requested lodgers tax funds.

McVey asked a total of $18,600 for spring and fall concerts, but the board was cool to that because none of the acts had been booked. They signaled they might be open to a future request once the bookings are confirmed.

Funds for several billboards for the college’s dinosaur museum were approved with little discussion. The board approved a similar request from museum director Loni Monahan, saying visitor numbers dropped by half when the museum’s previous billboards were not renewed by the college during its financial troubles.

For aid for the intercollegiate rodeo each October, board members were more receptive. McVey said the rodeo typically draws 200 people nightly. Patel said the rodeo serves as a good event for the city’s restaurants and motels during the tourism off-season.

Bo Lopez, representing the B’s Crew softball tournament in June, said he planned to make it a two-day event with more out-of-town teams participating. Lopez also requested less money compared to last year’s tourney. The June 14-15 tournament coincides with the Rawhide Days festival.

Kristine Olsen, representing the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, requested $89,450 for a variety of chamber projects, including having its Tucumcari Visitors Center open seven days a week.

The board rejected that request as too expensive (“I almost cried when I saw” the total on the application, Bednorz said). But he and board member Michael Carlson viewed having the visitors center open as “critical” and wanted funds earmarked for that purpose.

Olsen mentioned the chamber board voted earlier that week to begin a search for a full-time director to replace Scott Crotzer, who resigned last summer. The board delayed its search until the chamber building was repaired and reopened in mid-March after it sustained damage from last May’s hailstorm.

Bo Wallace, representing the Tucumcari Recreation Center, requested almost $36,000 to purchase a mower and tractor so it could maintain the Little League fields.

Wallace said if the fields are properly kept, Tucumcari could be in position to bid in 2025 on a Little League district tournament for the first time. Such an event would draw dozens of teams and at least 500 players.

Bednorz said he fully supported such an expenditure: “I think this is a no-brainer.” Patel said good maintenance on the fields might attract other tournaments.

City manager Paula Chacon detailed the city’s request for lodgers funds for several magazine advertisements, including American Road and a winter visitor guide by the state tourism department.

In other business, the board approved a $6,728.05 invoice from Elliott Marketing in Clovis to print 5,000 updated copies of the city’s visitor guide. Chacon said those should be distributed within a month.

Chacon also mentioned the city and Mesalands would host a Cinco de Mayo celebration on May 4. It would include music, games, booths, food trucks and a car show at the college from 1 to 4 p.m., then two music acts at the convention center from 8 p.m. to midnight.