Vancouver issued $68 million in bonds in 2003 to build the Hilton Vancouver Washington and Vancouver Convention Center. A citywide hotel room tax repays the bonds. The bonds’ balance was refinanced at a lower interest rate in 2013. The bonds are set to be paid in full in 2043. The Columbian files
Visit Vancouver USA, the city’s lead tourism-promotion agency, may have a clearer path to city-backed promotion funding under a proposal presented this week to the Vancouver City Council.
Council members appeared to favor a compromise funding plan presented at a workshop Monday. At a council meeting earlier this month, council members wondered how to equitably divvy about $500,000 between Visit Vancouver USA and several other organizations and individuals wanting smaller amounts. A 2 percent hotel room tax generates the money for the lodging fund.
City Manager Eric Holmes said he would return to the council with a plan calling for a three-year contract with Visit Vancouver USA that would provide it with 15 percent of lodging tax revenue. That’s expected to be $351,467 this year, $420,000 next year and $450,000 in 2021.
In addition, tourism grants for other agencies would be $196,775 this year, $175,000 next year and $175,000 in 2021.
Money for Visit Vancouver USA, as well as the dozen organizations and projects approved earlier this month, comes from a portion of the city’s 4 percent lodging tax on hotel and motel room nights. Vancouver diverts 2 percent of that money to pay the debt service on the city-owned Hilton Vancouver Washington and Vancouver Convention Center. The other 2 percent is dedicated by the city council to capital improvements for the hotel and convention center, and for other tourism-related projects, including community grants.
Vancouver issued $68 million in bonds in 2003 to build the Hilton Vancouver Washington and Vancouver Convention Center. A citywide hotel room tax repays the bonds. The bonds’ balance was refinanced at a lower interest rate in 2013. The bonds are set to be paid in full in 2043.
Visit Vancouver USA “is encouraged to see consensus from the city council directing the use of 15 percent of lodging tax collections to support the growth of tourism in the area over the next three years,” Visit Vancouver USA spokesman Jacob Schmidt said in an email on Tuesday.
“This decision aligns with our own proposal for additional marketing dollars and the unanimous recommendation of the lodging tax advisory committee,” Schmidt said. “City staff will be working with our office to firm up a professional services contract for approval at a future city council meeting.”
Most of Visit Vancouver USA’s budget, about $1.2 million a year, comes from a $2 room assessment on hotels in the city with 40 or more rooms.
The council’s discussion Monday came as the city’s hotel room inventory is poised for significant growth, Natasha Ramras, the city’s chief finance officer, told the council. As a result, the city’s lodging tax revenue is expected to grow 10 percent this year and another 10 percent in 2020, Ramras said.
That’s based just on the four projects that are under construction in the city, which will add 442 rooms to the existing 2,104 total.
Meanwhile, another nine projects are either being reviewed by the city or are being prepared for review. If all of those are built, another 877 rooms would someday be added to the mix.
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