By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Grayson Tourism held their regularly scheduled meeting on July 10. Items on the agenda included the organization’s financing and budget. President Daniel White covered some of the month of June’s financials for the commission, reporting transient room tax of $6,500 that when combined with a small amount of interest income of $104 brought the total to $6,604.00. Expenses included advertising and marketing at approximately $4,000, and expenses for the Blue Goose building were low.
“There wasn’t much going on in the month of June,” White said.
“There were some maintenance repairs and some expenses at the Cabin,” he told the commission, but explained that lack of activity had keep expenses down for the month. Total expenses for the month of June were $13,464, which made for an operating loss of approximately $6,800. White explained that June ended the fiscal year, so the total net loss was around $1,600.
“All in all, I don’t think there is much to complain about there,” White told the commission.
An operating loss happens when a company’s (in this instance, the tourism commission’s) operating expenses are higher than its operating revenues during a specific period. Revenues and expenses fluctuate on a monthly basis and may not reflect the overall fiscal ‘health’ of an organization. Grayson Tourism, for instance, might have reported an operating loss, but reports $240,000 cash available in the transient tax account.
Grayson Sports Park reported for the month of June a net restaurant tax of $85,000 and a Sports Park revenue of $10,500. That figure is made up of $4,200 in concession sales and $9,000 in field rental, with most of that rental being made up of Kentucky Christian University use. This brought the total income for the month of June to $109,000. Payroll expense for the month was $22,000, along with concession expenses of $10,900, with total expense being $17,000. This left a net income of $30,000 for the month.
Tourism Director Lana Axtell reminded the commission that the popular Route 60 Yard Sale was quickly approaching. Axtell also mentioned the Josh Baldwin concert the tourism commission is sponsoring taking place at Kentucky Christian University.
“And I also found out our day for the County Fair will be the day of the tractor pull, which is on a Saturday,” she said.
Grayson Sports Park Maintenance Director Tommy Roe reported to the commission on activities at the sports park.
“In the month of June, we had two district tournaments for little league, and we also had softball and girls’ and boys’ baseball tournaments,” Roe said. “We had big crowds for both of those. There were a lot of people there,” he said of the park crowds.
“We also had the Longest Day of Play, and that was a big success. We had a helicopter dropping candy out of the sky, and there was a big crowd for that as well. The splash pad has also been very busy,” Roe said. “Probably the busiest I’ve seen it. There are always thirty or forty kids playing on a hot day. And they have all left good reviews.”
“We had the Fourth of July event at Foundation Church, and had a cookout,” Roe continued, adding that again there was a very large crowd. Roe also mentioned things on the horizon like the flower garden, and resurfacing the walking trail with finer material to make pushing strollers easier. Roe said there are good things coming and that in the future he plans to post upcoming event schedules on the park’s Facebook page.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
