by Moses Leos III
For the past sixteen years, the Buda Lions Club has spread the word of the Buda Country Fair and Wiener Dog Festival, bringing floppy-eared, four-legged Dachshund goodness from as far away as Missouri.
Advertising dollars, in part from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT), help spread that word.
According to the Lions Club’s post-event report, this year’s estimated attendance was more than 25,000 patrons. Buda Lions Club Chairman Alan Robinson said there were one or two fewer dogs in the race and fewer craft vendors, but overall, the event was a success.
“It went well,” he said, “about as well as we expected it to be.”
Prudent spending of HOT funds helped defray the cost to the Lions. HOT funds come from a seven percent tax charged on hotel room stays and, by law, are dedicated to enhancing and promoting tourism.
It helps the Lions Club to have more “heads in beds,” so to speak. A post-event survey to Buda’s five hotels showed all were “booked for the weekend,” with a combined total of 92 hotel room nights.
The city considers applications for HOT funds each summer. Soliciting organizations complete a Local Occupancy Tax Request Application indicating the amount of HOT funds requested, the operating budget and all advertising costs.
City staff considers the application then asks the city council to decide how much to dole out. In 2012, the Buda Lions Club requested, and received, $7,000 in HOT funds. This year, they asked for $15,000. Robinson said they requested more funds to pay for parking and traffic control, including a shuttle service.
City council approved the full amount.
During the July 2 city council meeting, the Lions Club listed a
total advertising expenditure of $18,669, down from $19,440 in 2012.
Buda Mayor Todd Ruge said more HOT funds gave the Lions Club more money to use for advertising, keeping their general fund intact.
Paying less in advertising was a welcome respite for the organization, though Robinson said the savings came partly from better bargains, not a reduction in ad size or scope.
“It is always a good thing to spend less,” Robinson said. “Every dollar we do not spend goes back to the community.”
In 2013, the Lions Club spent more than $8,000 on the “Spot Machine” eyesight examination booth to help children with vision problems.
While the wiener dog event drew a large crowd, council member Ron Fletcher questioned the use of HOT funds for local advertising, believing money spent locally does not take full advantage of the funds. He said a regional or national approach would be more beneficial.
This is an idea the council shared with the Lions Club in previous years, according to Fletcher.
“The purpose of HOT funds are to put heads in beds. If you are coming from New Braunfels, you are not going to stay overnight; you are going to make a daytrip out of it,” Fletcher said. “Full hotel rooms are not a direct result of the Lions Club spending the money we gave them. The money they spent brought a lot of day trippers.”
In the last budget session, Fletcher said several entities asking for HOT funds agreed to what they call Contribution in Kind, where Buda’s tourism group purchases advertising for special events because they are able to leverage advertising dollars more efficiently, creating a wider audience.
The Buda Lions Club hired an outside advertising agency.
Robinson welcomed the council’s criticism, but felt the advertising worked.
“The city council always asks us good questions,” Robinson said. “However, with all due respect to Council Member Fletcher, when we poll the hotels, the hotels are full. That tells me we are making prudent use of our funds. If the hotels are only 50 percent full, I would see an issue.”
But he said the expansion of advertising is something the Lions Club will consider.
“However, HOT funds do not tell the whole story. They do not give the whole picture of what we do for our community.”
