Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority Board Report – June 15 th , 2023 Woodrow Jones Building TDA Board Agenda June 15 th , 2023, 12:00 Noon Woodrow Jones Building Public Hearing • Call to Order • Additions/Deletions to Current Agenda • Public Hearing for 23 - 24 FY Recommended Budget • Public Comments • Prior Minutes Approval • Finance Report • 23 - 24 FY Budget • Executive Director Report • Welcome Center Updates • Marketing Report • 23 - 24 Board Updates - Meeting Schedule - TDA Positions - TDA Committees • Committee Reports - Keep Rutherford County Beautiful - Trails Committee (No Meeting) - Marketing Committee (No Meeting) - Finance Committee (No Meeting) - Agri - tourism Committee (No Meeting) - Relocate to Rutherford Committee (No Meeting) - Information Committee (No Meeting) - Strategic Plan Committee - Executive Committee • Announcements • Adjourn TDA Board Members Executive Committee Board Chair: Dave Long 1 st Vice: Mary Jaeger - Gale 2 nd Vice: Jim Masek Treasurer: Jeff Geisler Other Members Mia Chapman (Secretary) Kitty McCammon Janet Mason Dana Bradley Margaret Annunziata Willard Whitson Spence Romine Ex - Officios Paula Roach David Hunt 2 3 Prior TDA Board Meeting Notes 05/11/2023 To Be Approved 06/15/2023 Call to Order : 12:04pm Members Present : Dave Long, Willard Whitson, Mary Jaeger - Gale, Kitty McCammon, Jim Masek, Janet Mason, Margaret Annunziata , Mia Chapman Members Absent : Jeff Geisler, Spence Romine Ex - Offic i os Present: Paula Roach Ex - Offic i os Absent: Dave Hunt Others Present: Elizabeth Randall, Taylor Hardin, Don Caso n, and Kayley Smith Additions / Deletions from Agenda : Motion to approve Agenda : Approval: 1st: Mary Jaeger - Gale 2nd: Kitty McCammon Motion Passed. Prior Meeting Minutes (changes if necessary): Janet was present Approval: 1st: Willard Whitson 2nd: Jim Masek Motion Passed. Finance Report Highlights : - Highlights o Past 2 months of occ tax collection is the first period of decrease this year o Projecting the RFF to be 10 % below last year’s collections o All projects are in the middle of phase II on their projects, but they won’t be completed as we thought. Dollars in the projec ts and programs line item will be rolled over into next FY. o Fund balance will end up just over $1.6 million Motion to approve Finance report : Approval: 1st: Willard Whitson 2 nd : Mary Jaeger - Gale Motion Passed Motion to ap prove the Audit Contract with Gould Killian: Approval: 1st: Kitty McCammon 2 nd : Willard Whitson Motion Passed 23 - 24 Budget Presentation: Don presented highlights of the 23 - 24 recommended budget Motion to take the 2023 - 2024 recommended budget to a public hearing on June 15 th , 2023, at 12 noon in the Woodrow Jones Building Approval: 1st: Janet Mason 2nd: Willard Whitson Motion Passed. Executive Director Report: Highlights: o Facilitated the TAC Meeting at Lake Lure Town Hall o Attended Zoom Meeting with Deckard Technologies o Attended the Rutherford Trails Collaborative o Attended the TTC Occupancy Tax Committee Meeting (Zoom) o Met with RB Partners for Project Status/Update o Attended Regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies o Attended AirDNA Zoom Presentation Regarding Rutherford County o Attended Lake Lure Public Meeting for PARTF Grant Qualification o Attended Luncheon with Congressman Edwards o Attended Lake Lure Town Council Meeting o Participated in the TDA Litter Pick - up o Participated in the TTC – Occ. Tax Committee o Worked on Occ. Tax Legislation/Guidelines with TTC Occ. Tax Chair o Responded to The Daily Courier Tourism Questions o Presented Lessons Learned Rutherford Bound to BOC o Met with Foothills Regional Commission to Review Rutherford Bound o Participated in the mFNC Meeting o Participated in the Arbor Day at Befesa with KRCB o Attended County Commissioner Meeting – County Budget Presentation o Voted on the TTC Occupancy Tax Committee RC Request Prior TDA Board Meeting Notes 05/11/2022 To Be Approved Cont’d 06/15/2023 4 Welcome Center Update: Charlie Sims came out and found the missing pressure valve and did some other much needed updates with the plumbing at the Welcome Center. The water pressure issue is fixed. Ad placed for a part time information specialist. Marketing Report: - Marketing Committee Update o Internal Marketing Report o Photo shoot with The Agency to update still shots o Taylor and Jenna traveled to Columbia to have the 2023 Travel Guide printed o The 2023 edition of the guide have just arrived and will be distributed starting next week o Lake Lure was featured organically in Trips to Discover o CRSP was organically featured in Southern Living o Rutherfordton was organically featured in Only in Your State o The Agency Slides presented by Taylor Hardin: Committee Updates: Marketing Committee: - No meeting Agri - Tourism Committee: - No meeting Finance Committee: - Met on April 20 th . Discussed short term rental monitoring programs, looking to meet with Paula to review these options. Keep Rutherford County Beautiful Committee: - Full committee met on March 21 st . County - wide litter sweep took place the month of April. KRCB made appearances at Befesa for Arbor Day, Pawns in the Park at Kiwanis Park, Preschool Storytime at the Park, Heritage Day at Sunshine Elementary, Earth Day at Norris Public Library, Fiction to Fabulous through the County Library and we won 1 st place. We finally found a paid pick - up team; they have already picked up about half of the 70 miles provided to them to pick up. Paid pick up will take place twice a year, in the off months when the litter sweeps aren’t taking place. Trails Committee: - Met on March 21 st . There are 5 or 6 active projects that have been approved for funding, once those are underway those projects will be reimbursed for 50% from TDA from the YOTT funding provided in the 22 - 23 FY. Relocate to Rutherford Committee: - No meeting Information Committee: - No meeting Strategic Plan Committee: - No meeting Executive Committee: - Met on May 4 th . Reviewed information from all other committees. Discussion was had about Dave Long and Kitty McCammon’s seats expiring. 23 - 24 Proposed Meeting Schedule Taylor presented the proposed meeting schedule for the 2023 - 2024 fiscal year recommending the board meetings to occur every other month. Board agreed to look at another option of dates and review at next meeting. 2023 - 2024 Board Chairman The TDA Board Chairman nominations for the 2023 - 2024 fiscal year. Presented by Taylor Hardin. Willard Whitson was nominated by fellow board members as the 23 - 24 FY Board Chairman. Willard accepted the nomination. Motion to recommend Willard Whitson as TDA Board Chairman for the 2023 - 2024 fiscal year. Approval: 1st: Mia Chapman 2nd: Mary Jaeger - Gale Motion Passed. Financial Report: By the Numbers Occupancy Growth The following spreadsheet shows the growth of occupancy tax collections for Rutherford County 5 FY 09 - 10 FY 10 - 11 FY 11 - 12 FY 12 - 13 FY 13 - 14 FY 14 - 15 FY 15 - 16 FY 16 - 17 FY 17 - 18 FY 18 - 19 FY 19 - 20 FY 20 - 21 FY 21 - 22 FY 22 - 23 % of Year's Projected Collections 20 - 21 % Growth last 12 mos 58,682 62,021 72,516 77,798 73,796 82,110 97,127 107,717 114,682 167,366 160,916 235,332 303,250 335,488 12.90% 10.63% 88,743 99,712 115,068 105,814 106,739 116,455 138,516 160,862 165,514 216,671 202,518 300,642 373,739 402,609 15.48% 7.72% 66,194 74,964 79,463 87,210 87,642 101,880 111,133 116,960 122,892 186,325 168,528 288,688 289,974 285,991 11.00% - 1.37% 44,737 50,817 54,132 53,022 53,118 58,060 69,238 86,691 101,963 254,178 135,669 227,738 226,967 232,683 8.95% 2.52% 55,065 57,927 57,994 63,864 65,408 79,834 89,055 103,461 106,078 154,547 151,729 262,931 263,581 254,792 9.80% - 3.33% 28,571 33,724 35,610 35,033 36,190 45,775 49,564 46,388 65,072 99,273 102,862 153,515 177,931 184,760 7.11% 3.84% 20,358 22,369 25,218 25,653 26,741 34,536 39,067 45,707 52,454 77,025 87,790 125,560 140,830 142,155 5.47% 0.94% 15,266 16,422 14,874 18,452 19,026 23,188 29,752 30,507 49,465 61,815 78,866 116,829 148,324 166,996 6.42% 12.59% 17,589 19,141 20,575 20,501 20,220 24,252 29,237 30,266 53,714 64,861 81,120 126,450 149,831 144,255 5.55% - 3.72% 22,681 25,130 30,169 30,921 32,183 35,871 49,376 46,777 78,947 91,515 43,264 197,081 198,644 187,695 7.22% - 5.51% 33,447 39,684 36,830 38,107 40,384 48,291 55,237 63,958 94,917 102,798 12,924 207,935 238,761 201,118 7.74% - 15.77% 39,641 50,339 72,560 72,001 65,651 65,024 73,303 78,146 113,790 131,268 100,591 232,546 258,283 0.00% 490,974 552,250 615,009 628,376 627,098 715,276 830,605 917,440 1,119,488 1,607,642 1,326,777 2,475,247 2,770,115 2,538,542 97.64% 1.00% - - - 584,218 591,018 568,000 683,000 853,000 1,000,000 1,400,000 1,354,000 833,500 1,980,000 2,600,000 Of Projected Collections Average Growth Financial Report: By the Numbers Occupancy Tax : May Y - T - D 6 May Y - T - D Last Year: $2,597,745 Budget: $2,350,000 Current Year: $2,582,329 Under last year: ($15,416) – (0.59%) Over budget: $232,329 – 9.89% April Collections/May Payment Last Year: $235,349 Budget: $180,000 Current Year: $223,084 Under last year: ($12,265) – (5.21%) Over budget: $43,084 – 23.94% 7 Executive Director Report Activity Summary 2022 - 2023 Priority Projects 1. Promote Tourism Master Plan Success and Collaboration 2. Tourism Plan Implementation and Funding 3. Maximize Tourism Occupancy Tax Receipts 4. Continue to Grow and Develop Relationships with County, Town, State Representatives, and Stakeholders 5. Implement TDA Marketing Plan 6. Hospitality Program for Rutherford County 7. Implement Trails and Itinerary Program 8. Grow Community Program / Events 9. Relocate to Rutherford County 10. County - Wide Wayfinding Monitoring Program/Kiosks 11. Research and Develop Rutherford County Agri - Tourism Program 12. Enhance and Develop Welcome Center Presence in Lake Lure and Rutherfordton 13. Rutherford County – Keep Rutherford County Beautiful 14. Provide TDA Staff with Education Opportunities 15. Strive to Develop RCTDA to be one of the Leading Rural Tourism Development Organizations in the State of North Carolina Attended the County Historical Preservation Committee Meeting Met with Mayor O’Leary with Project updates of Phase II Streetscape Met with Commissioner King & Steve Garrison for Occ. Tax Update Rutherford Bound Partners Workshop Meeting Met with KRCB Exec. Director – One on One Attended KRCB Full Committee Meeting Attended the HR Association Meeting & Presented Tourism & RB Met with UNC – Development Finance Initiative Attended the MxM /BOC Rutherford County Meeting TDA Participated in the Kidsenses Annual Golf Tournament Attended Mayor/Manager Quarterly Meeting Attended the TTC Quarterly Board Meeting Met with Towns Regarding Next Steps to Assist with RB Funding Participated in the County Blood Drive Attended the Ellenboro Cotton Gin Park PARTF Meeting Attended Chimney Rock Planning Board Meeting Attended Biggerstaff Historical Site with Historical Preservation Committee Attended Ellenboro’s Videotaping for Cotton Gin Park Attended the Lake Lure ABC Store Ribbon Cutting Follow - up Meeting with Foothills Regional Commission Attended TDA Coffee Talk Attended Comprehensive Development Strategy Committee (Foothills Regional Commission) Attended County Commission Meeting Representing Department Heads Facilitated Strategic Plan Committee/RB Partners Update Met with New McDowell TDA Director Presented TDA & Tourism Opportunities at Career Acceleration Camp Met with Chris Cavanaugh to Brainstorm Occ. Tax Legislation Met with Black Mountain Chamber of Commerce 18 Executive Director Report Detail Activity Summary – Attended the County Historical Preservation Committee Meeting Take - away: The County Commissioners placed the TDA on this committee a couple years ago. The committee is now in the process of identify ing a number of historical assets throughout the county. Committee has requested the TDA present a potential program of work for the committe e. – Met with Mayor O’Leary with Project updates of Phase II Streetscape Take - away: The phase 2 street scape plan continues to move forward. Timeline for bids is fall and construction to start in January 2024. – Met with Commissioner King & Steve Garrison for Occ. Tax Update Take - away: Chairman Long and Don met to provide an update on the TTC occupancy tax revision committee. The County Commissioners continue to be ready to support the TDA and occupancy tax guidelines as needed. – Met with KRCB Exec. Director – One on One Take - away: KRCB & TDA agree to evaluate procedures of current program and develop improvements on the current program. – Attended KRCB Full Committee Meeting Take - away: KRCB and volunteers continue to be engaged and support the litter pick up program. – Attended the HR Association Meeting & Presented Tourism & RB Take - away: Debra Conner of the County HR department is the chairman for the association this year. Deborah invited the TDA to come share th e TDA and Rutherford Bound to members. Feedback from Debra was good comments from members. – Met with UNC – Development Finance Initiative Take - away: DFI is a program that brings together private investment with government investment to create economic development. DFI has a gre ed to take a look at all our RB projects and provide some possible next steps. – Attended the MxM /BOC Rutherford County Meeting Take - away: Bradley Spiegel of MxM was on hand for the final RC cohort work meeting. The focus was on tourism assets and impact in RC. RC tourism continues to provide great collaboration, and options to grow economic growth in RC. – TDA Participated in the Kidsenses Annual Golf Tournament Take - away: Great day for a good cause. The TDA team of Jeff Geisler, Spence Romine, Jordan Barnes and Don Cason had an awesome time. However, we did not bring home any awards. Better luck next year. 8 18 Executive Director Report Detail Activity Summary – Attended Mayor/Manager Quarterly Meeting Take - away: The meeting was hosted by Spindale at the Spindale House. Great opportunity for the TDA to network with the town managers and ma yors. Presentation by RHI Legacy, Meta (Facebook), Dogwood Health Trust, and Gateway Wellness. The program provided good informatio n o n the different organizations and their mission. – Attended the TTC Quarterly Board Meeting Take - away: The TTC occupancy tax review committee was presented a restricted agenda in the middle of the review process. The chairman an d e xecutive board continued to restrict the committee during the board meeting. Therefore, the TTC did not support Rutherford County‘s ef for ts to provide flexibility in the occupancy tax guidelines to support 50/50 marketing/tourism asset development. “The option of doing nothing is not an opt ion .”. - Met with Towns Regarding Next Steps to Assist with RB Funding Take - away: DbD, The Agency, and C. Teddy Consulting continue to focus on assisting the towns and county with tourism product development implementation and reducing the funding gap on currently 14 projects. – Participated in the County Blood Drive Take - away: The county hosts an annual blood drive. The TDA supported this great and needed cause. – Attended the Ellenboro Cotton Gin Park PARTF Meeting Take - away : The Town of Ellenboro is a part of Rutherford Bound. Their Cotton Gin Park has applied for a $450,000 PARTF Grant. DbD has ass isted them with the grant application. DbD and TDA participated in the PARTF site visit. – Attended Chimney Rock Planning Board Meeting Take - away: Chimney Rock continues to focus on growing their tourism assets. – Attended Biggerstaff Historical Site with Historical Preservation Committee Take - away: The Historical Preservation Commission, TDA staff, and NC Park Service toured the site for potential opportunities for future to urism product development. DbD was on hand to learn about the site. The committee will meet in the future to envision a program of work for fu ture development and promotion. – Attended the Lake Lure ABC Store Ribbon Cutting Take - away: The Lake Lure community came together to cut the ribbon for the new location. The old location is freed up for development on the lake. All of the Town Council, Town Manager, and many citizens were on hand. 9 18 Executive Director Report Detail Activity Summary - Follow - up Meeting with Foothills Regional Commission Take - away: The TDA will continue to reach out to the FRC to assist/partner with Rutherford County in order to maximize our ARC/state gra nts for Rutherford Bound. – Attended TDA Coffee Talk Take - away: The TDA has a winter/summer coffee talk. The TDA provides the community/stakeholders an update on all the current marketing p rog rams and trends, plus an update on all the Rutherford Bound projects. Everyone in attendance appreciated the efforts of the TDA board, st aff, and partners for helping make Rutherford County a better place to live, work, play, and of course visit. - Attended Comprehensive Development Strategy Committee (Foothills Regional Commission) Take - away: The TDA continues to participate in the foothills regional commission CDSC program. Networking with the other three counties in the region has been informative plus sheds light on how much work there is to do to make Rutherford County a better place to live, work, and pl ay. - Attended County Commission Meeting Representing Department Heads Take - away: All the county department heads were in attendance at the June commission meeting (public hearing) to show support for the co unt y. The TDA was also on hand to support the County Commissioners appointment of chairman Whitson to the TDA board. - Facilitated Strategic Plan Committee/RB Partners Update Take - away: The RB partners continue to move RB forward. The partners will provide the Strategic Plan Committee with quarterly updates. - Met with New McDowell TDA Director Take - away: McDowell county TDA and their municipalities have been a big supporter of the WNC occupancy tax guideline agenda. Shannon Odo m i s the new Director and I met with Shannon to bring him up to speed on the program of work. - Presented TDA & Tourism Opportunities at Career Acceleration Camp Take - away: Linc McDaniel heads up a summer camp for high school students. The TDA was asked to provide a TDA summary and a review of opp ort unities in tourism. - Met with Chris Cavanaugh to Brainstorm Occ. Tax Legislation Take - away: Chris Cavanaugh is a respected leader in North Carolina tourism. He is well educated on occupancy tax legislation across the state. Chris is a great resource for information as we move forward on future legislation. - Met with Black Mountain Chamber of Commerce Take - away: Sharon Tabor with the Black Mountain Chamber of Commerce requested a meeting with Rutherford County to learn more about Rutherford Bound. Black Mountain is in the process of working closely with Asheville tourism in order to help them expand their economic and tourism product. Advice to them was to create steering committees and develop a plan. 10 Welcome Center 11 FY 22 - 23 FY 21 - 22 FY 20 - 21 June 7,053 7,438 5,187 July 7,522 8,614 5,622 Aug. 7,002 6,481 5,914 Sept. 6,128 6,704 5,539 Oct. 8,963 8,692 8,629 Nov. 3,054 4,111 3,835 Dec. 1,489 2,013 1,995 Jan. 1,785 1,069 1,716 Feb. 1,912 1,784 1,716 Mar. 3,063 3,247 3,134 Apr. 4,478 5,767 5,174 May 6,290 6,229 6,598 Visitor Traffic Travel Guides The number of guide orders mailed or delivered from the TDA office (Does not include the high volume of guides given out at the Welcome Center) May: - Cases Mailed: 53 12 TDA Everywhere KidSenses Golf Tournament DbD filming at Ellenboro Cotton Gin Site Biggerstaff Hanging Tree Site Visit with RCHPC TTC Board Meeting RC Chamber Luncheon 13 TDA Everywhere PARTF Visit at Ellenboro Cotton Gin Site Don participating in the County Blood Drive Taylor and Elizabeth at Rutherfordton FAB RCTDA Coffee Talk - June 6th 14 Leadership Rutherford 14 Graduation: May 11 th Speaker: Dr. Johnny Smith 38 15 38 16 38 17 38 18 19 20