San Luis Obispo County’s Tourism Business Improvement District will keep the same administrative consultant its had since the beginning, after County Supervisors approved a new contract.
Supervisors unanimously approved a 2-year contract extension with Cheryl Cuming of MarketCher, that will pay some $10,900 a month — not-to-exceed $131,400 a year — plus expenses “associated with any travel undertaken on behalf of the CBID,” reads the staff report, to continue to handle the administrative duties for the District and oversee a staff of assistants.
The terms of the new contract run from Jan. 1, 2018 through Dec. 31, 2019. Cuming oversees the day-to-day operations of the assessment district, which includes “administrative support to not only the seven local areas advisory boards but also to the five contract local area administrative assistants,” according to a County staff report. “In addition, she oversees the work of two contract employees for the CBID Advisory Board — an administrative assistant and accountant — and works extensively with the CTBID’s contracted marketing agency.” Cuming has been the district’s contract administrator since May 2010 and is the only contract administrator the CTBID has ever had.
The district is funded through a 2-percent, per-room-stay tax on privately owned motels, hotels, B&Bs and vacation rentals in the unincorporated areas of SLO County. RV parks and public and privately-owned campgrounds are also not included in the district.
According to the County, the CTBID’s budget for fiscal year 2016-17 totaled $1.9 million and thus far, close to half way through the current fiscal year, receipts are at about $1 million, which is probably good considering that Hwy 1 through Big Sur has been impassable since last January and will remain blocked by the Mud Creek Slide just north of the SLO County Line likely into Fall 2018.
In addition to the overall advisory board for the whole county, individual towns — Cambria, Oceano/Nipomo, San Simeon, Cayucos, Los Osos and Avila Beach — have their own boards, which are reapportioned half the money the County collects with the 2% assessments to spend as they see fit on their areas.
All of the administrative costs come out of the assessments and no County general fund monies are spent on the program. Members of the advisory boards are nominated by and approved by the County Supervisors, without compensation.
The highest profile promotion the CTBID does is the “California Highway 1 Discovery Route” website (see: https://highway1discoveryroute.com). That website promotes only the unincorporated areas of the county, so neither Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach or SLO is mentioned on it. However, the local State Parks such as Hearst Castle are prominently featured, as they are the main tourist attractions in the County areas.
SLO County also has a countywide Tourism Marketing District or TMD, funded through a separate, 1-percent tax on room stays that also includes the incorporated cities, and is used to market all of SLO County as a tourist destination.
That organization too, branded “SLOCal” (see: www.visitsanluisobispocounty.com), has a board of directors and a contract marketing and administration firm, Visit SLO Cal. It is the new incarnation of the old County Visitor’s and Conference Bureau or VCB.
By Neil Farrell
