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County to expand tourism web presence; officials monitor short‑term rental data access dispute
Summary
County officials plan to expand the tourism website to include economic development content using ARPA and occupancy‑tax funds, and discussed a legal letter from a booking platform lobbyist about short‑term rental data sharing with the state.
Washington County economic development staff said they will expand the county tourism website into a combined tourism‑and‑economic‑development portal and will use available ARPA and occupancy‑tax funds to pay for initial development work by a local vendor.
The county’s tourism lead said Black Dog (a contracted web vendor) will be asked to add economic development content; the upgrade is estimated at roughly $9,000 and would be funded from ARPA savings and future occupancy‑tax revenues tied to short‑term rental registration. The tourism lead said the county’s occupancy‑tax law permits use of revenue for tourism promotion and related economic development that enhances the county’s general economy.
Officials also raised a separate short‑term rental policy issue: a lobbying letter the county received indicating that a major booking platform’s representative was urging jurisdictions to consider legal challenges over certain data‑sharing requirements with state registries. Tourism staff said the county plans to continue work on the county registry and to watch litigation and industry letters; the county’s vendor is preparing registry and reporting systems for November implementation deadlines unless the county elects to opt out of state data sharing.
Staff said the county is not yet opting out and that registry deployment will continue while legal developments are monitored.
