The Twentynine Palms City Council gathered last evening to confer on issues regarding tourism, funding and the upcoming census. Reporter Heather Clisby was there…
The bulk of last night’s Twentynine Palms City Council meeting was devoted to the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID). First up, filling the two vacant positions on the TBID Advisory Board. One applicant, Patricia Knight, was confirmed, while the other applicant could not be approved due to a business relationship with Mayor Pro Tem Councilman Joel Klink.
The council then adopted Resolution 1917 which confirmed the intention to levy an assessment for fiscal year 2019-2020. Councilman Dan Mintz clarified the current 9 percent transient occupancy growth fee will not increase.
Breanne Dusastre, TBID’s marketing director, presented on the state of city tourism. Twentynine Palms has 14 traditional hotels and over 60 vacation rentals. Dusastre said the TBID is looking to increase digital marketing efforts and leverage partner opportunities. The TBID budget is $208,000 and projected revenue will come in just below that.
Census Bureau representatives then asked the council for help in communicating the fiscal importance of an accurate count. If the community is not accurately counted and represented, fewer federal funds will be available. A generally low count for a community is 73 percent and Twentynine Palms came in at 66.3 percent in the 2010 count.
