After an audit last year found a lack of contract compliance among organizations hosting grant-funded events, the city of Colorado Springs is planning changes to ensure better follow-up and a greater focus on bringing people to town.
The Lodgers and Auto Rental Tax, also known as LART, has funded numerous well-known events in town, such as the Western Street Breakfast, the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo and the Festival of Lights Parade. Funding for those events and others was cut for 2025, after the budget fell from $2.4 million in 2024 to $1.6 million in 2025, generating an outpouring of concern. The total number of grantees also plummeted from about 80 to 18.
While the audit did not find improper spending, it did call for more controls…