Trinidad Council weighs tourism spending against looming water costs

Trinidad City Council’s latest budget conversation put a familiar local question in sharp relief: how much should the city spend to draw visitors when residents are already facing bigger bills for basic services? At the center of the April 7 discussion was a lodging-tax stream that was coming in below expectations, arts-and-culture requests that were already outpacing available money by tens of thousands of dollars, and a water tank that will need millions.

That combination matters because Trinidad’s tourism program depends on a portion of the city’s 6% lodging tax, and those dollars are supposed to do more than promote the city. Under the current allocation, 35% goes to sustainable tourism marketing, 30% to recreation facilities and programs, 20% to tourism personnel and facilities such as the Colorado Welcome Center, 10% to arts and cultural events, and 5% to council-directed tourism-impact needs. The city says those funds are meant to improve the visitor experience and resident quality of life while preserving cultural heritage and the natural environment.

The problem is that the money has not stretched as far as officials had hoped. In practical terms, every dollar that goes toward downtown promotion, events, or visitor services is a dollar that cannot be used elsewhere, and the council’s water discussion underscored how steep the other needs have become. A tank replacement or major repair is not a seasonal expense. It is the kind of infrastructure cost that can force city leaders to choose between maintaining Trinidad’s image and keeping the system that serves residents functioning.

The tension is not new. In 2023, Trinidad asked voters to raise its lodging tax from 3%, the rate approved in 2001, to 6%. City voting materials said the higher rate would have brought in about $550,000 a year beginning January 1, 2024, and laid out a new split for the money: 35% for marketing, 30% for recreation, 20% for tourism personnel and facilities, 10% for arts and culture, 5% for flexible use, and 2% for administration in the general fund. The city also told voters the existing rate was low by regional standards and that the increase would not directly affect Trinidad residents, though it could affect visitor demand.

That same year, Trinidad also sought voter approval to remove the municipal landfill from enterprise status because tipping-fee revenue was not covering operating costs, another sign that the city has repeatedly had to patch essential services with limited revenue. The Lodging Tax Advisory Board, a five-member volunteer panel that meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month, now sits inside that broader struggle: how to support tourism without losing sight of the cost of keeping Trinidad running.