Travel and Tourism Board receive funds

The Travel and Tourism Board has seen a significant increase in tax dollars during the past two months, with a $13,555.62 increase in tax money received.

However, board consultant Amanda Moeller said the numbers come from an obvious source.

According to Moeller, hotel booking websites have been withholding payment of tax money to the state of Wyoming for some time, but it was not explained during the April meeting exactly how long the practice was going on.

This money is now being distributed to the state.

“The whole state of Wyoming is getting this money,” Moeller said. “But it’s coming in chunks.”

Because of this the Travel and Tourism Board received $24,470.22 in tax receipts from the state between March and April. This amount is up from $10,914.60 during the same two months last year.

Moeller said it isn’t clear how much money is going to be disbursed, or even how long disbursements will continue for.

Additionally, the board set up a bylaw committee during their March meeting in order to review and renew the current bylaws of the board. The current bylaws for the Travel and Tourism Board are outdated and possibly not legitimate. The bylaw committee will meet May 18 at 11 a.m. at the County Museum.

Also, the board members talked about the county assigned board appointment, which has a May 14 deadline. Interested people can contact the county commissioners for more information.

As a further matter, the board was presented with a consultant contract renewal with Cowgirl Consulting. However, the board tabled the contract for their meeting in May.

The next Travel and Tourism Board meeting will be May 19.