February 2026 Update
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Join Us Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 17 6pm Council Work Session to discuss the RFP (Request for Proposal) for a DMO (Destination Marketing Organization) 7pm City Council Meeting (Fair Building Acquisition Vote on the Agenda)
Welcome to 2026! There are many things to catch up on, and it is important for your voice to be heard NOW – while each member’s perspective informs our Board strategy, your voice is needed with the city council and in the community at large. Please read on for details, and as always, questions are welcome!
State of Play: Our mission begins with Empowering Growth for our entire community. This is essential to our town’s stability, and unfortunately our warnings to the city council last year have been both unaddressed and proven accurate. Today, we see declines in City Sales Taxes, with double digit drops in overnight stays a primary cause. This will inevitably lead to negative impacts for our neighbors in the form of city spending cuts, which we believe were avoidable. It’s time our community voice is raised and we implore you to speak your concerns at Council meetings, or by calling and emailing your council members.
The City Council meeting this Tuesday the 17th will be an important opportunity to show up and make yourself heard. The agenda opens at 6pm with a work session to discuss the DMO RFP – we support an open process and hope the city can (finally) take constructive action to address the significant failures with its efforts to effectively promote Bisbee.
That said, defining the scope, budget, measures of success, and desired outcomes we expect partners to match, will be foundational requirements to a constructive outcome. Most concerning, the city has provided ample evidence that they lack the internal expertise to create both a revenue strategy (our sales tax declines reflect this) and also how to execute a marketing investment strategy that will be fruitful. Without having this effective oversight, it is likely the city will continue to miss the mark. Who among the city staff should be entrusted to even evaluate an RFP of this importance, let alone administer it? Creating an RFP without addressing these questions first is a waste of time.
Following the work session, the city is considering the acquisition of the “free” Fair Building. This would require the city to assume all financial and operational risks at a time when the city is staring at a budget shortfall. This is not the time to take on long term obligations which will hamstring future financial flexibility. At this time, the council should defer this decision to at least the fall, when the city can assess its financial position. To do otherwise will create economic risks that will not be easily rectified, and is irresponsible.
Visitor Center Update: Rather than commit to a costly and highly risky Fair Building acquisition, the city should approve the space offered at the Convention Center. This option will drastically reduce the expense of a Visitor Center while maximizing visitor engagement and provide ADA compliant bathrooms that will support the volume of traffic. Bisbee Forward supports low-cost and efficient spending on the non-revenue generating Visitor Center, and this solution will serve our visitors, businesses, and residents well. Bisbee Economy Update: The city reports City sales taxes are about $450,000 short of
anticipated collections Year to Date. Worse still, the city has covered some of this gap by
transferring funds from the Bed Tax (explicitly purposed to “Attract Overnight Stays”) which is not a sustainable approach. If the city continues to base spending off it's shrinking budget, these shortfalls will result in cuts if not reversed. As noted, the overnight stays for Bisbee dropped in 2025 by 15 percent; this loss of visitors has a devastating impact on city finances.
Call to Action: If possible, attend the Work session at 6PM on Tuesday the 17th, followed by the regular Council meeting at 7pm. You can sign up to speak for up to 3 minutes at Call to the Public. Your voice can make a difference, and we encourage you to express your concerns to the council directly. If you are unable to attend, please call or email your council members directly prior to tomorrow's meeting.
Ward 1 Old Bisbee, Lowell, & Galena (West of 92) | Ward 2 Warren, Bakerville, & Galena (East of 92) | Ward 3 San Jose, Don Luis, Tintown & Briggs |
|---|---|---|
770-547-6561 | 520-249-6314 | 520-432-6012 |
480-622-7608 | 520-346-2586 | 520-678-3557 |
As always, we welcome feedback and questions! Please reply to info@bisbeeforward.org or call any board member to discuss.
Thanks for your continued support and commitment to our town!
The Bisbee Forward Board
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