by PAMELA HULSE ANDREWS Cascade CBN Editor
Voters throughout Deschutes County will have an opportunity to vote on a ballot measure this November to increase the room tax with the county (basically covering visitors to various county-based resorts including Sunriver, Pronghorn, Eagle Crest and Black Butte). Although residents of Bend, Sisters, La Pine and Redmond will vote on the measure, visitors to those cities hotels and motels will not pay the tax.
In addition, Bend voters will vote on a room tax increase that visitors to the city will pay. Although Bend voters will vote on the county room tax increase, visitors to Bend will not pay this tax.
Confusing? No doubt. Especially because Bend voters will see both measures on their ballots and will vote on a county tax that their guests will not pay. What’s more, the two room tax increase proposals are quite different, with different amounts and different intended uses.
Deschutes County Room Tax Increase – Measure 9-96
This transient room tax is currently at 7 percent and with voter approval will increase by 1 percent. Thirty percent of the funds raised will go the county general fund to be spent as its county commissioners see fit on critical county services such as public safety, health and human services and county infrastructure. The other 70 percent, estimated to be $500,000 a year, will go solely to the Deschutes County Fairgrounds Expo Center for marketing purposes. This will be a whopping windfall for the Expo Center which currently only spends about $35,000 a year on marketing to outside sources.
According to Dan Despotopulos, director of the Expo Center, there is considerable capacity at the center to accommodate thousands of more visitors a year. With a current estimated $29.3 million a year economic impact, the county hopes to enhance economic development throughout the region with the increased funds.
Note that owners of property located in unincorporated Deschutes County and in the City of Bend, rented 30 days or less at a time, or in a vacation rental program only part of the time, are responsible for collecting and remitting transient room tax.
City of Bend Room Tax Increase – Measure 9-94
This transient room tax is currently at 9 percent and with voter approval will increase by 1.4 percent to 10.4 percent. The tax is slated to be increased in two-phases, to 10 percent next June, then another .4 percent in June 2015.
By law 30 percent will go to the city general fund. Bend’s proposal is much more complex than the county increase as the remaining 70 percent of the funds raised, approximately $650,000, would be shared between police and fire services, tourism promotion and an Arts & Cultural Fund.
Over the next 10 years, this initiative will generate approximately $2.4 million for Bend’s police and fire departments, $3.8 million for economic development, and $1.8 million for the arts.
Thirty percent of the revenue raised by this measure (approximately $200,000 annually), will be allocated to Bend’s police and fire departments to mitigate the city’s public safety funding shortfall and help ensure Bend’s police and fire departments can meet the demands of our growing population of visitors and residents.
Approximately $300,000 annually will be employed to improving Bend’s economy, primarily through expanding Bend’s tourism marketing reach into Seattle and northern California to attract visitors and investment from these important, yet currently untapped, markets. This expansion of tourism marketing is estimated to generate an additional $42 million of visitor spending annually in Central Oregon.
Around $150,000 annually will further augment Bend’s economy by establishing a long-term source of funding for the arts. In addition to enhancing Bend’s quality of life, Bend’s arts and cultural assets are critical to attracting new visitors, residents and jobs. The fund will be a unique and welcome opportunity for cultural tourism in Bend.
It’s reasonable to expect tourists to pay a fair tax when visiting our region. By comparison, other destinations’ combined lodging taxes and fees include Spokane (14 percent), Boise (13 percent), Boulder (12.3 percent), Santa Barbara (12 percent), Portland (14.5 percent), Seattle (17.6 percent), and South Lake Tahoe (15 percent).
So clearly the proposed room tax increases are not out of line with today’s marketplace.
Ballots will be in your mailbox around October 19, please take the time to read the Voters Pamphlet and understand the difference between the two measures and the value they will both add to our economy.
