Midyear bed‑tax report: Prescott tourism fund about half spent; downtown beautification temporarily covered by public works

Mike Kelly, Prescott’s tourism manager, presented a midyear snapshot of the FY2026 transient bed‑tax budget to the Tourism Advisory Committee on Jan. 15.

Kelly reported a FY2026 bed‑tax budget of $1,589,566 with $758,199 remaining, noting the program is about 52% spent at midyear as expected. He said finance reported the current fund balance at roughly $373,610 and that figure could rise to about $520,000 depending on the one‑month sales tax reporting lag.

Committee members asked whether fund balance rolls into the next fiscal year; Kelly confirmed that fund balances do roll over. Members also questioned if certain utility costs for Charlotte Hall should be paid from bed tax or general fund; staff said that topic could be scheduled for a future meeting.

On downtown beautification, staff clarified that an allocation was removed from budgeted contingencies after funds were exhausted Dec. 31, but public works will cover the program for six months so services continue. Kelly said staff intends to add downtown beautification back into the tourism budget for FY2027 if revenue allows.

Kelly also fielded questions about specific line items (e.g., visitor center support, summer concert series) and said staff will provide more detailed reporting as requested. The TAC asked to see post‑event reports for bed‑tax‑funded events and staff agreed those reports can be provided through staff channels.

Next steps: staff will continue to monitor the bed‑tax fund balance, provide requested post‑event reports to TAC members, and include downtown beautification in the FY2027 budget planning process.