Place Dynamics is pleased to submit this proposal to assist the Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board in preparing a Destination Master Plan that will guide investment over the next 20 years. This plan is meant to ensure the vitality of the Town’s lodging industry and position the Town to capture a growing share of the tourism market…
— from the 2019 Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board ‘Destination Master Plan’, prepared by Wisconsin-based Place Dynamics.
While having coffee with an friend yesterday, I was asked to give my assessment of “where Pagosa is headed over the next 10 or 15 years.” I thought for a moment, and answered: “Well, it all depends on the economy.” Meaning, the national economy, or maybe even the global economy.
I guess I’ve come to the conclusion that the future of Pagosa Springs will be determined, to a large degree, by forces beyond our poor ability to steer the community, this way or that. And I do mean, “our poor ability”.
My friend was taken aback by my answer. And now that I’m thinking about it, maybe I should be taken aback, as well. Am I so willing to concede control of our community to global forces?
Here’s an item that appeared on the agenda for the Pagosa Springs Town Council meeting this last Tuesday:
4. Resolution 2023-13, Tourism Board Allocation from Reserves; agenda brief.
The Tourism Board, made up of volunteers involved in the tourism industry, supposedly ‘makes recommendations’ about the expenditure of Lodging Tax money, collected by the Town of Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County. In practice, the Tourism Board itself, and its staff, make nearly all the final decisions about which aspects of the tourism industry will receive the tax subsidies.
About $11.9 million in subsidies have been provided to the tourism industry since 2007. (Not including 2023.)
At the moment, the Tourism Board has $1.3 million sitting in its bank account, unspent. The proposal brought to the Town Council on Tuesday involved moving $500,000 of those unspent revenues into a special “trust” account, earmarked for a future “events center.” To be built someday, somewhere, and managed by someone.
From the Council agenda packet:
As discussed during recent work sessions, the Tourism Board would like to see a permanent event venue added in the community and has made that a priority. The Tourism Board approved recommending the transfer of $500,000 from reserves into a discreet line item in the Town’s Trust / Impact Fund during their March 24th meeting. The item was discussed during a joint Town / County work session on March 28th and again during a work session on May 25th. The Board of County Commissioners approved the transfer during their April 4th meeting.
The need for a permanent event venue was identified in the adopted 2019 Destination Master Plan.
The Tourism Board plans to investigate venues in other destinations to better understand how they were funded and different models for the management and operations of various venues. At this point, no specific type of venue or location has been established. However, the Board feels strongly that securing funds will help this effort move forward.
You can download the agenda brief here.
I am one of the taxpayers here in Archuleta County who have serious questions about which local industries ought to be massively subsidized by government.
Recent meetings by the Tourism Board have revealed a unanimous belief that local Lodging Taxes must be spent subsidizing tourism. The way it’s always been done.
The state of Colorado is not in complete agreement with that idea.
In 2022, the Colorado General Assembly passed HB22-1117, changing the way that county governments (and local marketing districts) can use Lodger Taxes. Previously, county governments could use lodging taxes only for “marketing” the tourism industry. But HB22-1117 changed the allowable uses. It was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis in March 2022.
From the General Assembly website:
The act expands the allowable uses of the revenue from a local marketing district’s marketing and promotion tax and a county’s lodging tax to include:
- Housing and childcare for the tourism-related workforce, including seasonal workers, and for other workers in the community;
- Facilitating and enhancing visitor experiences; and
- Capital expenditures related to these new purposes.
A local marketing district or county must obtain voter approval to use the tax revenue for the new allowable uses.
According to HB22-1117, up to 90% of a county lodgers tax could now be used to create housing and childcare opportunities “the tourism-related workforce, including seasonal workers, and for other workers in the community”… if the county government obtained voter approval for those uses.
The Archuleta Board of County Commissioners has not, thus far, expressed any interest in placing such a measure in front of the community.
Nor has the Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board expressed any interest in t addressing housing for the workers who keep the tourism industry running. But the Tourism Board would very much like to provide tax subsidies to business owners and corporate managers looking for a semi-secluded rural town in which to host large corporate retreats or conferences.
From the 2019 Destination Master Plan:
Southwestern Colorado lacks desirable facilities at which to conduct large meetings or banquets. Although somewhat a remote location, the region has a great number of activities that can be packaged with meetings or conferences, and is a highly scenic setting for events. While there is an opportunity to develop a quality meeting facility, any such project would need to occur along with the development of new hotel rooms, either as part of a single project or in the immediate vicinity. Transportation and catering services are also limitations that may need to be addressed to develop a successful venue.
A meeting/banquet space might be contemplated as a public facility, private facility, or public-private partnership…
These estimates assume that the new facility has an attractive design that is competitive with locations such as the Doubletree Hotel in Durango, that it is developed with the new hotel rooms needed to support it, pricing is competitive, and that there is an aggressive marketing campaign to organizations, and addressing the destination wedding/social event and business meeting markets…
Unfortunately, the 2019 Destination Master Plan gave no indication of how much this type of facility would cost.
What does our elected Town Council think of this idea?