On July 7, the Pagosa Springs Town Council approved a new intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Archuleta County setting the rules and regulations regarding staffing of the Tourism Department and the administration of the Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board.
The goal is to promote and manage Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County as a “tourist destination,” an agenda brief on the matter states.
The Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approved the revised agreement on June 16.
As was previously reported in The SUN, the county sought changes to the IGA after a resident brought to light some “issues” and “concerns” with the way the IGA was written.
County Attorney Cathleen Giovannini explained that the changes were to clarify in the language that the county’s 2 percent lodging tax must be used for tourism-related advertising and marketing efforts only, and could not be spent on tourism-related items outside those parameters.
The new IGA explains that a 1988 countywide ballot measure imposed the 2 percent county “tax on hotel, motel, guest ranch, campground, and all similar accommodations,” for the sole purpose of raising funds for the marketing and promotion of tourism.
The new agreement also notes that the town can use funds from its portion of the lodgers’ tax — taxes that come from within town limits — on things beyond the parameters of tourism advertising and marketing.
Child care, workforce housing and tourism-related infrastructure have been cited by the council and Tourism Department as issues that the town’s lodgers’ tax could be used to support, and the new IGA lists them, as well.
“However, County funds distributed from the Tourism Board shall be restricted to advertising and marketing activities,” the agreement states.
Other changes with the IGA include an updated history of county and town lodging tax, a reiteration of the role of the tourism board as an advisory committee, rather than an “operational” decision-making board, and a reduction in regular meetings to four times a year.
When a motion was made to approve the new IGA, it was passed by the council, with Leonard Martinez, Mayor Shari Pierce, Madeline Bergon, Vahid Shabro and Gary Williams voting to approve it, and Mat deGraaf voting “nay” on the measure.
Council member Brooks Lindner was absent for the vote.
After an executive session on the matter and before the roll-call vote, Town Manager David Harris said “town staff was recommending the approval of the new agreement.”
Williams remarked, “It’s important that we cooperate with the county as much as we can on tourism, parks and recreation, and building codes, so that we harmonize … these things across these two jurisdictions.”
Pierce added that she agreed, saying “it’s important to our community for us to work together on promoting the destination as a whole.”
deGraaf said, “While I appreciate the changes that were made and the clarity that it provides, I am not in favor of this IGA.”
In an interview about his vote, deGraaf explained that he feels the new IGA is “a power play” on behalf of the county “trapped in an intergovernmental agreement.”
The county “treated the town like a child” in the situation, he said.
While the town had done everything to “play nice in the sandbox,” he felt that the county had, instead, “pissed in the sandbox.”
He added he wanted the county to know that not everyone on the council supports any and every change they want to make.
derek@pagosasun.com
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