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Staff outlines HOT fund, potential venue tax and strategy for convention‑center debt service
Summary
City staff said current hotel‑occupancy tax revenue is about $10.1M and proposed using growth (roughly $500K) plus retiring debt to redirect roughly $1M toward convention‑center debt service, supplemented potentially by a project finance zone and a voter‑approved 2% venue tax.
Staff reported the current year local hotel‑occupancy‑tax (HOT) budget at about $10.1 million and projected collections growth of roughly 10.5% in modeling. Staff described allocating growth toward a civic‑center capital improvement project and identified two major potential revenue streams for convention‑center debt service: proceeds from the legislature‑approved project finance zone (PFZ) and a voter‑approved 2% venue tax.
The staff member explained a scenario in which holding the roughly $500,000 in growth (rather than distributing it to partner organizations) and reassigning dollars freed by retiring debts could contribute about $1,000,000 in annual debt service for the convention center without materially cutting base partner funding this year. Staff also cited a convention‑center expansion figure stated in the presentation of $666,000,000 as a component of the capital stack under discussion.
