This report covers the first four months of the 2026 fiscal year.
The Bella Vista A&P Commission is funded by Bella Vista's 1% prepared food tax and 2% short-term lodging tax. Its mission is the promotion of Bella Vista as a travel and tourism destination — specifically, attracting visitors who stay overnight in the city's short-term rentals and eat in its restaurants, prepared-foods from grocery store delis, food truckts, etc..
The Commission is not a for-profit entity. Its goal is not to retain a surplus but to reinvest tax revenue into the work of attracting those visitors. A successful budget year ends close to balanced, with a small positive net carried forward as operating reserve.
This document is intended as a companion to the monthly statements — it adds context to the line items, explains the structural patterns visible in any single month, and identifies the standing relationships that appear in every report.
Two structural patterns shape the monthly statements, and both are most visible during Q1:
Bella Vista's tourism economy is busiest from spring through fall. January and February are the slowest months for both food and lodging. April is typically the first month each year where collections noticeably step up.
The annual budget — approved in November of the prior year — commits the Commission to community partnerships, event sponsorships, and content production that must be paid out early because the events themselves occur in spring and summer and require lead time. For an organization averaging roughly $30,000–$40,000 in monthly collections, a $10,000 partnership commitment or a $15,000 campaign placement is significant relative to in-month income.
The combination of low Q1 collections and front-loaded Q1 expenses means the Commission typically runs at a monthly deficit through the first four to six months of the year, then catches up across the remainder. Cumulative deficits visible in early-year reports are expected and budgeted.
These statements are reported on a cash basis. Short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb/VRBO collect the tourism tax directly from visitors and remit them directly to the A&P. The A&P Tax Collections – Lodging figure for any given month therefore reflects when remittances were received, not necessarily when the underlying reservations were booked or fulfilled. The figures remain accurate for trend and budget purposes; they should not be read as precise week-by-week or property-by-property breakdowns.
Advertising and Content Marketing rises through the year as Community Promotion and Sponsorship obligations are fulfilled. The two categories operate as communicating vessels: early-year spending is concentrated in committed partnerships that require lead time, and the remainder of the year shifts into paid media and content production. The result is that the Advertising and Content Marketing line will appear modest in Q1 reports and grow steadily through Q2, Q3, and Q4 — by design, not by under-spending.
Three contractors appear on every month's report. To avoid repeating their context inside each monthly section, they are summarized here.
Held quarterly and open to the public. Schedule, agendas, and approved minutes are posted on the Discover Bella Vista website.