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Alpine presenters detail what hotel-occupancy tax can legally fund; advertising requirement emphasized
Summary
At an Alpine forum, tourism director Chris Ruggia and Justin Bragle, general counsel for the Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, outlined legally allowable uses of the city's hotel-occupancy tax, stressing that every expenditure must "directly promote and enhance tourism and the hotel and convention industry" and noting local and statutory spending caps.
Chris Ruggia, Alpine's director of tourism, and Justin Bragle, general counsel for the Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, told a public forum that city hotel-occupancy tax revenue must have a direct connection to tourism and the hotel/convention industry.
"Every expenditure must directly promote and enhance tourism and the hotel and convention industry," Bragle said, summarizing state law and later noting the commonly used shorthand: "putting ends in beds."
Why it matters: Alpine levies a 7% municipal hotel-occupancy tax in addition to the state's 6% tax. Because the local tax is a dedicated revenue source, state law requires a two-part statutory test: (1) the spending must directly promote tourism and the…
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