Borough to increase MSCVB funding

PALMER — Although it’s not official yet, the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau is set to receive $30,000 more than the organization had anticipated in the Mat-Su Borough’s 2009 budget.

Initially, the Borough assembly had considered even more for the MSCVB, with a $72,000 increase. The funding comes from bed taxes levied in the area and is split between the visitors bureau and the Borough’s fund for tourism infrastructure grants. That increase is in line with what the bureau had asked for to bring the ratio close to a 60-40 split with the Borough as it had been in years past.

Assemblyman Tom Kluberton said a group in his district is considering installing some Olympic-grade ski trails that would be a boon to the area. He said the trails would draw ski competitions and bring more winter visitors during a season when tourism in the area is slow.

But the money the group is hoping to get, Kluberton said, comes from those infrastructure grants.

“I’m seeing excellent opportunities for the tourism infrastructure grants to help accomplish the goal of increasing bed tax revenue,” Kluberton said.

Assemblywoman Lynne Woods, who proposed the $72,000 increase, said that until the Borough finishes drawing up and setting in place an updated plan for how to hand out those grants, “I want the MSCVB to continue advertising our area.”

Kluberton said the bureau has a line item elsewhere in the Borough budget, which calls for $60,000 in Borough funds to help fix up the MSCVB headquarters.

Assemblywoman Cindy Bettine asked how bad the situation was at the building.

“It’s bad, and it has to do with the log structure,” Borough Public Works Director Keith Rountree said. “They’re deteriorating badly.”

The $60,000 would go to hiring someone to draft a plan to repair the building, with remaining funds spent on fixing it.

Bettine eventually proposed the compromise of upping the group’s funding by $30,000. Kluberton said he was fine with that. Woods was not.

“Now is not the time to reduce or cut back,” Woods said, arguing that the assembly has grandiose plans to boost tourism that take years to accomplish and, in the meantime, cuts funding for the programs the bureau is already running.