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Tourism advisory pauses Civitas work after outreach delays; county may pursue lodging tax if petition fails
Summary
The county’s tourism advisory effort paused paid consulting work with Civitas Advisors after the consultant delivered bylaws, petition templates and outreach materials but key lodging owner support remained uncertain, a board update said June 17.
The Trinity County tourism advisory effort has paused ongoing paid work with consultants Civitas Advisors while county staff continue outreach to local lodging operators, a supervisor told the board on June 17.
Civitas had been engaged to help design a lodging‑industry controlled tourism investment mechanism; the consultant delivered bylaws, sample petitions and other materials. The advisory member who presented the update said the county was spending about $56,000 per month on the contract and paused the work to avoid further spending while outreach continued.
The presenter said the process relies on a weighted petition from lodging business owners (larger operators carry more weight). Several of the top 10 lodging business owners had publicly opposed the plan or not identified changes that would win their support, making it uncertain whether the petition would reach the necessary threshold. The presenter said the county has tried outreach to other counties with successful programs and to lodging owners directly, and that some resistance appears to be personal or strategic rather than technical.
The presenter told the board that, if the petition process cannot secure agreement from the necessary lodging operators, the county may instead pursue a transient occupancy tax (TOT) increase to raise tourism funds by voter approval. The speaker said staff preserved much of the Civitas deliverables (bylaws and templates) for future use so the advisory board can pick up the work if owners move to support it.
Why this matters: A tourism investment district or an increase in TOT would create an ongoing local revenue stream dedicated to promoting tourism or county services; the decision affects local lodging businesses, tourism‑dependent firms and county finances.
Provenance (transcript excerpts): Topic intro: "I wanted to get back on the agenda to present an update, and I've, included in the backup materials the materials that would normally have been for our next agenda of the tourism advisory board." (block_id:4929.70, local_start:0, local_end:150, evidence_excerpt:"I wanted to get back on the agenda to present an update, and I've, included in the backup materials the materials that would normally have been for our next agenda of the tourism advisory board.") Top finish: "So Understood. That's my update." (block_id:5437.97, local_start:0, local_end:40, evidence_excerpt:"So Understood. That's my update.")
