The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau met last Thursday, Oct. 17, to look over their updated budget and to start planning for future meetings and conventions. On the agenda for the night was the selection of a new chair and vice-chair for the bureau, but as there were two unfilled seats at the time of the meeting, they decided to postpone this decision.
According to the bureau's budget, provided by Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore, there is $262,000 in CPV funds budgeted for Wrangell. The majority of this has already been earmarked for future projects like construction of toilets near Petroglyph Beach, an extension of the Mt. Dewey trail, and construction of a summer float on City Dock. As of June 30, 2020, there will be an estimated $77,000 in CPV funds left over. Rushmore explained that CPV funds, or Commercial Vessel Passenger, is a state fee applied to cruise ships visiting Alaska.
Wrangell is also seeing some income via the transient tax, which is a six percent per room, per night fee that the hotels and bed and breakfast places in Wrangell pay. According to the budget, there should be $85,836 in transient tax money. However, Rushmore said, the actual amount currently available sits at $118,000. This is a big discrepancy that she could not explain at the time, Rushmore said, but she was looking into it to figure out why the numbers were not matching.
"So what's in the budget book is $85,000 as our ending balance, and beginning balance for this year," she said. "When I got into the records today, we've just been allowed to start getting into the actual budget documents, this is what I found."
As of Oct. 1, according to the budget, once expenses and revenues were accounted for, the convention and visitor bureau has about $68,000 in funds budgeted, but an "actual" amount of approximately $135,000.
In other business, there are several conventions coming up in which the bureau will be represented. The Alaska Media Road Show will take place from Oct. 27 to 29 in Las Vegas. The Seattle Boat Show will take place from Jan. 24 to Feb. 1, 2020. Closer to home, the bureau decided to plan some local workshops and meetings for a variety of topics. The bureau will meet on Nov. 1 to discuss the Tongass Roadless Rule. The Forest Service is seeking public comments on a draft environmental impact statement that could potentially exempt the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 ruling. The bureau will also meet on Nov. 4 to workshop best management practices when it comes to tourism in Wrangell. Lastly, they will meet on Nov. 7 to discuss the identity and branding of the city.
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