After years of toying with the idea of reducing or eliminating its tourism marketing expenses, the Carmel City Council is no longer playing. On June 2, the Council passed a $42 million 2026-2027 budget without the originally estimated $473,000 in marketing, asking for a discussion in July, when a final decision will be made on how much to put back into the budget, if anything.
Councilmembers described receiving a barrage of comments from Carmelites weary of visitors populating the village on a weekly basis.
“People are angry about it,” Councilmember Hans Buder said. “They’re over it.”
The city has annually contributed money to three organizations that market Carmel to visitors: See Monterey, Monterey County’s tourism and convention bureau; Visit Carmel; and the Carmel Chamber of Commerce.
The Visit Carmel Board of Directors—which is made up of and financed by hotel owners—had earlier reduced its ask for the coming fiscal year from $120,000 to $90,000. As the Council sought to resolve an expected budget shortfall of more than $2 million the directors voted to take their request to zero.
See Monterey is asking for $293,000, based on an agreed-upon 3 percent of the estimated transient occupancy tax revenue, with the money earmarked for marketing to visitors who will more likely stay in hotels and spend more money, versus daytrippers who spend less.
Councilmember Bob Delves said he’d like the city to cut its See Monterey contribution in half, eventually taking it to zero within three years, but Buder worried cuts would directly impact revenue to the city. Councilmember Jeff Baron said a compromise was in order, while Mayor Dale Byrne was the only member who wanted to retain the full requested amount in 2026-2027.
The vote was 5-0 to pass the budget without the See Monterey contribution, to be further discussed on July 7 for possible later inclusion. The $60,000 request from the Chamber remained intact.
Over the last year and a half, city staff have been finding places to cut expenses by about 15 percent. Meanwhile the Council is committed to catching up on deferred capital improvement projects estimated at $100 million total, with a goal of spending $10 million a year. The new budget includes $8.5 million for capital improvements, including $2.7 million transferred from a fund budget.