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Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Advisory Board

Orange County · Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau
Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Advisory board meeting Budget and appropriationsArts and public artBroadband and technologyCivil rights and nondiscriminationFarmland and open spaceImmigration and enforcementIntergovernmental agreementsParks and recreationSchools and educationTax rate and revaluation

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved 1Approval of Minutes Approved

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau board takes up a budget update and Savannah Bananas planning under the executive director's report, plus a communications and digital strategy update from bureau staff. UNC's newly appointed director of special projects, Marcus Ginyard, addresses the board on coordination between the university and local governments. Board members also share community updates.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau advisory board heard on November 19 that occupancy tax revenue is projected flat and traced the reasons: federal job cuts, federal travel cuts, fewer people working in Research Triangle Park, general economic anxiety, and the closure of the Siena Hotel for most of next year. The Siena had a higher average daily rate than other hotels in the county.

The bureau collected about $2.196 million in occupancy tax last year, $1.529 million of it from thirteen Chapel Hill properties. Carrboro has one collecting property, Hillsborough five, five more carry Durham addresses, and seven are short-term rentals. The county tax office is starting an audit of occupancy tax remittance this year.

How the votes went

The October 15 minutes were approved as submitted, all in favor. Adjournment carried on a motion by Matt Hughes seconded by Allison Reid.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (5)

Staff or committee report · 2Minutes approval · 1Presentation · 1Discussion item · 1
  1. 1 Approval of Minutes
    Minutes approval
    The October 15, 2025 minutes.
    Approved
  2. 2 Guest Speaker — UNC Office of Special Projects
    Presentation Intergovernmental agreementsSchools and education
    UNC's new head of special projects, a role shared between the offices of public affairs and finance and operations, described work with the university's real estate and government affairs teams to coordinate better with the county, town and state, and UNC's strategic initiative to grow enrollment while sitting inside a town.
  3. 3 Communications Report
    Staff or committee report Arts and public artBroadband and technologyBudget and appropriations
    Media relations work with the state tourism office, travel writers and content creators, including a six-page Southern Living spread on Chapel Hill. Print publications include the 2026 visitors guide, downtown and county maps, a mural map and a restaurant map. The website drew 617,000 visitors last fiscal year, a record, with paid media and search about 30 percent; new sections cover neighborhoods, videos and accessibility, and the team is working toward the county's ADA Title II compliance deadline of April 2026. The bureau maintains seven social media channels and an open image library for non-commercial use.
  4. 4 Executive Director's Report — Savannah Bananas and Budget
    Staff or committee report Budget and appropriationsTax rate and revaluation
    The Savannah Bananas play Kenan Stadium April 11 and 12, with an $80,000 bid fee from occupancy tax revenue plus $7,200 from Carrboro. The fee consumed most of the promotions budget, so $30,000 came from reserves for marketing, and the budget office advised against further draws. Occupancy tax revenue was about $2.196 million last year, $1.529 million from thirteen Chapel Hill properties, and is projected flat because of federal job and travel cuts, fewer Research Triangle Park employees, economic anxiety and the Siena Hotel's closure. The tax office is auditing occupancy tax remittance this year.
  5. 5 Community Update
    Discussion item Civil rights and nondiscriminationFarmland and open spaceImmigration and enforcementParks and recreation
    Members discussed ICE activity in the Triangle, with a county commissioner reading a joint statement, one member predicting economic impact as people stay home, another reporting Carrboro's Fourth Amendment know-your-rights events, and a third recommending training from a local immigrant rights organization. A local farm reported 2,000 pounds of muscadines harvested, 100 acres planted with 60 more in 2026, and the highest tier of regenerative certification. The Uproar festival reported metrics up 200 to 300 percent over its first year with more than half of spending staying in the county.

Agenda changes

What moved between published versions of this agenda. Item numbers shift constantly as things are inserted, so only genuine additions and removals are listed.

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