RANDOLPH, Utah. June 8, 2017. John Spuhler and Bob Peterson told commissioners that last year
there was a 52% increase in tourist tax of which 98% was produced in Garden City. Most of the money comes from transient taxes
from short term rentals and restaurant tax.
Spuhler and Peterson studied the State Auditor’s report
carefully, they found that in a restricted fund there was over $238,000. They realized that the county had been paying
the Sheriff for extra protection out of general funds rather than out of the
TRT funds as they should have. The
County was owed $125,000. But that left
about $113,000 in a restricted fund that had not been spent for tourism related
promotion or projects.
Norm Weston said, “We are frugal with our spending and we
don’t spend everything. We like to keep
some there.” Mayor Spuhler responded, “Perhaps
there is too much money sitting in an account when every year it gets larger.” He said that twenty five business people showed up to a
meeting to ask why Garden City did not receive more to promote tourism or to
pay for projects that enhance tourism.
Garden City businesses expressed frustration to Spuhler,
that Garden City only realizes 7% of that money, even though 98% is produced
there. There are costs incurred because
of the large crowds on the beaches, parking and cleanup for example, and those
costs should be paid for out of the TRT funds.
The business owners met with the mayor and city council to see if there
was an opportunity to see if the funds could be spent better. Since 2012 over $900,000 has been raised
through tourist taxes, but less than $70,000 has been spent in Garden
City.
Park City and St. George agree that if the money is being
created in the city it should stay in the city. Mayor Spuhler said that
currently there is seven million dollars
being invested in Garden City.
Tom Weston said that Garden City also benefits from the all
over promotion monies spent because the other cities don’t do much tourism so
they don’t benefit from the promotion.
The board that oversees dispersion of tourism monies has
been in place for over 10 years. They
have two meetings a year and several members do not even come to those
meetings. Spuhler felt that it was time
to reorganize the board with more representation from Garden City as the city
is built on tourism.
Spuhler would like to see tourist grants based on different
criteria. He feels that a 50% match is
high, especially if they do not consider in-kind matches. The current board requires a 50% match. However, Melinda Hislop, interim tourism director,
said that it was only a tradition that they required a match. It was not actually necessary. Spuhler felt it should be clearly noted.
Spuhler and Peterson said
that the grant process is cumbersome and
a city applying is not notified how much money is available. Cities are not told why a grant is declined,
nor are they given time to counter.
New board members could include two or three of the
following people suggested Mayor Spuhler:
George Peart, Ty Tyngee, Mike Moldenhauer,
Gary Mckee, Paul Akre, Nate Parry, Nate Smoot, Ty Hodges, or Bob Peterson, who
are all business leaders in the county.
It would be a good idea to build a board with new people who would bring
in creative ideas.
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