Trinity County advisory board advances TBID draft; lodging owners voice distrust and ask for more outreach

Trinity County advisory board members and county staff reviewed a draft management district plan for a proposed Tourism Business Improvement District and discussed outreach, timeline and funding mechanics as lodging owners and other public commenters raised longstanding distrust of how visitor taxes were handled in the past.

The board heard a timeline from a consultant recommending a mid‑June start to a petition drive, submission of petitions by July, a resolution of intention at a Board of Supervisors meeting in July, a public meeting in August, final public hearing in September and a proposed district effective date of Jan. 1, 2026. Katie, a consultant with Civitas, told the board the plan and service plan drafts remain open to changes before petitions begin.

The discussion focused on three issues that repeatedly surfaced during board remarks and public comment: (1) whether assessment funds could be diverted to county programs; (2) how much it will cost to collect the TBID assessment and who should collect it; and (3) whether enough lodging business owners have been contacted to justify moving to petition.

Katie said the law governing TBIDs and assessments requires that assessment dollars “must fund services and improvements that specifically benefit the lodging businesses that pay into the TBID,” and that those funds cannot be diverted to general government programs. "So that's mandated by Prop 26," she said, describing the legal…