West Sacramento council forms Tourism Marketing District, levies assessments on lodging businesses

The West Sacramento City Council on Dec. 3 adopted Resolution 25‑127 to establish the West Sacramento Tourism Marketing District (WSTMD) and levy assessments on certain lodging businesses.

Staff representative Megan Stiles told the council that petitions submitted on Oct. 15 represented more than 50% of the proposed assessment, allowing the city to initiate formation proceedings. Stiles said the city held a required public meeting earlier in November and received no written protests at the Nov. 3 meeting; at the Dec. 3 public hearing the clerk reported zero written protests. Visit Yolo — the regional tourism organization — submitted a comment asking staff to coordinate on marketing materials and partnership opportunities.

Council members praised staff outreach and the hotel community’s engagement. The council then moved, seconded and adopted the resolution to create the district and impose assessments on participating lodging businesses; the clerk recorded unanimous 'Aye' votes from council members during the roll call.

Formation of the district establishes a mechanism for assessed lodging businesses to pool revenue for destination marketing; the resolution and assessment rate schedule were the subject of the staff report to council. The council took no separate action on funding commitments beyond adopting the formation resolution at the meeting.