Our view: Since when is tourism a low priority

For years, community leaders have pointed to tourism as the key to Del Norte County’s economic growth. That’s kind of a no-brainer in an area drained by losses in the timber and fishing industries, yet blessed with natural beauty because it happens to be situated between the world’s tallest trees and a coastline strewn with sea stacks.

How is it, then, that helping to fund the one effort devoted solely to tourism promotion seems to have become a low priority at City Hall?

The Del Norte County Visitors Bureau, an off-shoot of the Chamber of Commerce, needs a permanent  — even if modest — source of funding to bolster what to this point have been mostly volunteer efforts at realizing more of our tourism potential. The logical source of that funding is revenue from the transient occupancy tax (TOT), also known as the hotel tax.

Since most of the area’s hotels and motels are inside the city limits, the city government takes in the majority of that revenue, estimated at a little over $900,000 for the most recently completed fiscal year.

City Hall’s finances were in such disarray as a new fiscal year began last summer — a series of fiscal misadventures meant the city didn’t know how much money it had — that the City Council deferred all discretionary spending until the books could be sorted out. That included any contribution to the Visitors Bureau, a setback that was unfortunate but apparently unavoidable.

Now, however, the City Council seems to be putting off the Visitors Bureau’s again, this time pointing to future budget uncertainties and the fact that City Hall has gotten used to using all of its TOT revenue for general operations.

Mayor Kelly Schellong put it this way in an e-mail to several members of the Visitors Bureau Board of Directors: “I will not cut law enforcement or fire or funding for the pool or many, many other items to fund the VB. Once we have a black and white picture of our finances and the state budget passes and we know what we are dealing with, we then can decide how to invest any discretionary money we have, if we have any.”

Translation: Don’t hold your breath.

No one could reasonably suggest cutting police or fire services to fund tourism promotion, and Schellong is right to suggest that the city proceed cautiously in very uncertain economic times. Moreover, the business community must continue to support the Visitors Bureau as well – the effort should never be entirely tax-supported.

But here are some more basic facts to consider.

Promoting tourism isn’t just an investment in the future, it’s also vital for the present. The economic meltdown doesn’t mean people are going to stop coming to the beach, and it behooves us to make sure they come to our beach.

The Visitors Bureau needs baseline funding to move beyond its all-volunteer efforts. If the city and county devote a portion of TOT revenue to successful tourism promotion, more TOT money will be generated. The bureau is asking for 25 percent of the TOT take. The county Board of Supervisors is willing to go along, but wants city buy-in as well.

Is 25 percent really too much for the city to swallow right now? Maybe, but so is the idea that the Visitors Bureau should get money only when economic times are good.

At home or at City Hall, how we choose to spend our money is a reflection of our priorities.

City Council members received 40 percent raises this month. This resulted from a vote taken by the former Council last September, but Schellong said at the time that the raises could be delayed if the budget difficulties remained. Well, the raises went through.

 If something is important enough, we take care of it rather than deferring it.

The Visitors Bureau is important enough.