At last Wednesday’s meeting, Finance Director Rick Bright put words to an expected gloomy revenue report for the Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission. As of April 30, tourism tax earnings from restaurants were down by 41 percent and lodging collections were below last year’s earnings by 47 percent.
This led to more aggressive efforts to discuss budget cuts. The commission has projected a 30 percent annual revenue loss, or half a million dollars, for 2020 but could only agree to cutting expenses by $390,600 or 24.5 percent thus far.
With the loss of former Executive Director Lacey Ekberg and another vacant staff position unfilled, the salary budget was lessened by $76,500. Commissioner James DeVito expressed concern that the staff had not been reduced enough as compared to other CVBs in Arkansas saying, “I’m really concerned when looking at all the other CVBs… everybody else is at fifty percent, sixty percent, Hot Springs is at two thirds cut.”
Interim Director Gina Rambo said, “We are already running basically with half staff because we are short two people, so we are all kind of doing two jobs right now as it is. We are working twice as hard. I don’t see anyplace we can make cuts because I don’t know who else is going to do those jobs.”
“We are not even at a third reduction in our budget,” DeVito said. “Everybody else is fifty to seventy percent reduction in their budgets. I’m getting a little bit concerned that we’re rosily optimistic about the future and I just don’t hold that to be true. Sixty-five percent of people say they are not going to do anything for the next six months.
“There are a lot of businesses that aren’t gonna make it – it’s their tax dollars that support this organization and we have a responsibility to be frugal with this cuz I tell ya, some of those tax collectors are no longer here.”
He suggested the commission cut another 25 percent out of the budget to better match the economical magnitude the CAPC is facing. While commissioners did not agree to that, they did agree to discuss further cuts at the next meeting.
The basic breakdown of the current $390,600 budget cut is $81,800, or 12 percent, cut from media and video advertising; $156,000, or 54 percent cut from special events; $15,000, or 20 percent, from staff group travel expenses; $50,400, or 39 percent from Auditorium expenses; and $87,400, or 24 percent, from salaries and office administration costs.
Commissioner Terry McClung made a motion without having an item on the agenda, but it was allowed by Chair Carol Wright, to reappoint Bobbie Foster to the CAPC since her term was expiring. Commissioners approved the motion, and Foster, not having completed an application for reappointment consideration, went ahead and voted yes.
The next workshop will be June 10 at 4 p.m. in the Auditorium, and the next regular meeting will be June 24 6 p.m. at the Auditorium.