Staff recommends capping tourism‑promotion awards at $650,000 after $777,000 in requests

Astoria City staff told the budget committee on March 3 that four tourism organizations requested a combined $777,000 from the Promote Astoria fund (transient lodging tax revenues). Staff recommended limiting awards to no more than $650,000 to keep a reserve and protect the fund’s long‑term viability.

Staff said about half of Astoria’s transient lodging tax (TLT) revenue is set aside for the Promote Astoria fund and that uses are restricted by state statute and city code. The presenter cited ORS 320.300 and a city code provision governing distribution and management of the funds, and emphasized eligible uses such as advertising, strategic planning, operating tourism‑promotion agencies and marketing events—but not paying the operational costs of an event.

“Last year, we had about $600,000 to give away. We’ve worked that up to about $650,000 this year, so there is a small increase in available resources,” the presenter said. Staff warned that awarding the full requested total could leave the fund vulnerable in a downturn and recommended preserving a starting balance sufficient to cover at least a year of operations in the event of a decline in lodging revenue.

Staff also said the city moved TLT collection to the state, and that state collection has improved compliance and added penalty revenue when operators pay late. That change, staff said, has helped overall TLT receipts.

The committee was scheduled to hear short presentations from the applying tourism organizations at the March 5 work session; staff said the committee would be able to move dollars around on a spreadsheet during that session and that members would control final allocations before recommending a proposed budget to council.