By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Governments on every level deal with a large number of expenditures and revenue streams as they do business on a monthly and yearly basis; and each one of those expenditures and revenue streams must be accounted for in a particular manner that is regulated by laws and statutes. Unlike a private citizen who has the freedom to distribute money as they see fit from any available funds, governments are required to pay certain expenditures with certain funds earmarked for that purpose. And even general funds a government might have are still subject to regulations.
Grayson Mayor Troy Combs recently took the time to provide some insight and clarification on these inner workings of city government, such as how tourism funding works.
“The purpose of the Tourism and Convention Commission is to promote tourism and convention in the town,” Mayor Combs said, using the group as an example of how funds are collected and allocated. “So, everything they do should fit that purpose. It is a very broad purpose, but it has parameters.”
Part of that purpose isn’t to turn a profit per se, Combs said, but they can make money which can then be reinvested in the original purpose of promoting tourism and convention. Tax money collected by the group, though, can only be used for those purposes defined by state law. Those funds cannot be moved to other departments or projects.
“Part of the way tourism is funded is through restaurant and the transient hotel tax. Both of those are separate taxes that are supposed to be dedicated to different things. The Tourism Commission is entitled to all of the restaurant tax,” Combs said. “The city can exercise more control over the transient tax, but we don’t do that. Instead, the City of Grayson collects two percent of the tax for the sake of administrative costs.”
Still, the process is more than income and expenditures. There is a layered oversight in place where budgets and projections as well as approval play a part. The restaurant and transient tax, grant money, and loan money then has to be presented to the city council along with plans and a budget for approval, Combs said.
The Tourism Commission does have autonomy though, Combs pointed out, comparing it to a public utility.
“The city has allowed this unit of government autonomy. But the city is the one that created the tax and ensures that it is being spent wisely, which is where the city’s supervision kicks in. We can’t tell them what to spend the money on,” he said.
But the city council can choose not to approve it if they feel all due diligence hasn’t been done.
“We have a good Tourism Commission,” Combs said. “And they all work really hard, especially on projects like the Blue Goose Renovation.”
The Blue Goose is a good example of the challenges of justifying dedicated revenue streams, such as a grant to promote entrepreneurism whose funds must be spent to do only that. Added to this are cost projections that have fluctuated since the onset of the project due to numerous factors including post COVID supply chain issues that have in many cases drastically increased material costs. Combs said he commends the tourism commission, which is mostly made up of volunteers, for all the work they do to take these challenges in stride and adjust accordingly.
Combs said that he encourages all residents of Grayson to attend the city council meetings and other public meetings to see firsthand how the city and other government entities such as the Tourism Commission conduct their business. It is the best way, he said, to learn about revenue and expenditures, and understand how everything from road repairs to the sports park is funded and administered.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com