Coronado's tourism promotion agency collected nearly $2.5 million in hotel assessment revenue during fiscal year 2026. The 30% jump left the board with a half-million-dollar surplus and a spending plan to rewrite.
Discover Coronado's advisory board will meet Thursday, Oct. 1, at 2 p.m. in the Winn Room of the Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave., to review and possibly approve a reforecast of its fiscal year 2027 budget. The board will also review financial and accounting systems and take up a hotel room request, according to the meeting agenda.
The reforecast follows a fiscal year that blew past projections. Executive Director Todd Little presented preliminary, unreconciled FY26 numbers at the board's Sept. 3 meeting showing assessment revenue of $2,491,464. That 30% year-over-year increase far exceeded the $2.3 million revenue line the board had used when it approved a draft FY27 budget in February.
About 91% of budgeted expenditures were fulfilled during FY26, leaving a preliminary surplus of $531,864.
The board discussed potential uses for the windfall on Sept. 3. Ideas included a redesigned DiscoverCoronado.com website, a photography session aimed at group-meeting marketing and rent funding for a planned visitor Information Hub.
No consensus emerged. Members agreed a full reforecast was the better path, one that could account for the revenue gap, large-scale needs and the possibility that FY27 collections will also outpace the original projection.
Board member Rena Clancy, who is leading planning for the Information Hub, reported on Sept. 3 that the search for a location is moving forward. She and Little also met with a vendor about redesigning CoronadoVisitorCenter.com. Little told the board that "non-assessed hotels could be included on the redesigned website and at the physical Information Hub, provided assessed hotels continue to receive primary lodging emphasis."
The board has already begun directing surplus dollars. On Sept. 3, members voted 7-0 to transfer $250,000 from savings into District 1 and District 2 reserves, split equally. Clancy made the motion; David Spatafore seconded.
That move followed an April 9 vote in which the board unanimously earmarked $300,000, half of its D1 reserves, for a partnership with the City of Coronado on community projects over three years. The board also approved $6,000 in February for an outside audit of FY25 financial systems by Noren, Nordling and Associates.
Also at the Sept. 3 meeting, board member Claudia Ludlow announced a new title of managing director. Seven of nine board members were present; Carlos Rodriguez and Grant Dipman were absent.
The next board meeting after Oct. 1 is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5, at 2 p.m. at the same location.
