Draft budget gets the once-over at CAPC

At the Wednesday, Sept. 10 workshop, the City Advertising and Promotion Commission started 2026 budget talks with Finance Director Ty Reed presenting a draft. Reed and Tourism Director Mike Maloney answered questions.

Starting off, the 2026 budgeted tax remittance (income) will see a five percent drop to $2,000,000 from $2,106,000. The CAPC also increased the proposed income for ticket sales in-house from $40,000 to $160,000.

Maloney explained that the CAPC intends to host more of its own shows, saying if the CAPC has eight shows in 2026 that each fill 400 seats at an average $50 ticket that would reach the $160,000 budgeted income. He said the CAPC is looking into multiple genres for artists, and the first show would be in March or April.

Madden Media’s ad production will be going down in 2026 from $1,225,295 to $750,000. Maloney said that is due to more capability to produce ads in-house. It may also be mentioned that line item 5026 Media Buys is going up from $65,000 to $99,274, also due to that being able to be done in-house rather than specifically through Madden Media. Maloney said Madden will continue to handle social media presence and that while the CAPC continues to spend a lot with the agency, much can be handled internally by staff.

Commissioner Heather Wilson-Vinson noted that the proposed budget positions the CAPC for growth “if the economy and tourism cooperate.” She also mentioned midterm elections in 2026 could play a part in tourism.

Commissioner Steve Holifield asked if there were projections for how tourism will perform next year, and Maloney explained that in talks with Madden they are “holding their breath.” He said they, and other destinations, are not expecting any windfalls in 2026. Maloney eased that news with mentioning that VRBO and AirBNB numbers were up 14 percent compared to last year in town and numbers may balance out for 2026.

Other Items

• The commission discussed the Group Sales position speaking highly of Group Sales Manager Jana Taylor, who helps with groups and visitors coming to town needing itineraries, as well as attending trade shows. The Group Sales budget will continue to have hospitality trainings for next year.
• Commissioners intend to speak on payroll at their next budget workshop with Wilson-Vinson wanting to speak on cost-of-living related pay raises.
• December holiday line items have been broken down to two line items, one for Christmas and one for New Year’s Eve, budgeted at $20,000 each. In 2025, December holidays were all in one item budgeted at the same total. Commissioners floated spending more for December holidays, weighing in conversation whether it is worthwhile to position Eureka Springs as a holiday season destination. Commissioners agreed that would be a future workshop item, as well.