by PAMELA HULSE ANDREWS Cascade CBN Editor
Voters throughout Deschutes County will have an opportunity to vote on Measure 9-96 on the November 5 ballot that will increase the room tax within the county (basically covering visitors to various county-based resorts including Sunriver Resort, Pronghorn, Eagle Crest, 7th Mountain Resort and Black Butte).
Although residents of Bend, Sisters, La Pine and Redmond will vote on the county measure visitors to those cities hotels and motels will not pay the tax.
Only Bend voters will vote on measure 9-94, a room tax increase that only visitors to the City of Bend lodging properties will pay. Although Bend voters will also vote on the county room tax increase, visitors to Bend will not pay the county tax.
It’s very important to vote yes on both room tax increases, recognizing that the county increase only occurs outside city limits and the Bend increase only occurs inside the Bend city limits.
Deschutes County Room Tax Increase – Measure 9-96 – is currently at seven percent and with voter approval will increase by one percent. Thirty percent of the funds raised will go the county general fund to be spent 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 economic development purposes. This will be very beneficial to the High Desert economy and to the Expo Center, which currently only spends about $35,000 a year on marketing to outside sources, to bring new visitors to the region.
City of Bend Room Tax Increase – Measure 9-94 – is currently at nine 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.
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).
Measure 9-94 is a small increase in the tax tourists pay to stay in Bend hotels. This measure will add just $1.40 for tourists presently spending $100 a night for a Bend hotel.
Upon it’s passage, the increase will provide an additional $200,000 a year to police and firefighters, $150,000 a year for arts and culture and $300,000 to market Bend to potential tourists in Seattle and Northern California—currently untapped markets that could significantly influence economic gains for Bend.
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.
