— Move would add $380,000 per year for tourism development —

(OSOYOOS TIMES — April 4, 2007) —

Backed by the apparent support of a majority of local hotel and motel operators, Osoyoos Town Council voted Monday to start the process of setting up an Additional Hotel Room Tax (AHRT) of two per cent for all accommodations in town.
If the move to ask the province to approve the room tax goes through, Osoyoos stands to gain at least $380,000 in new money each year for additional tourism marketing and development “ with $190,000 coming from the AHRT and another $190,000 coming from new resort municipality funding that the provincial government will grant to the Town as long as the community adopts the new room tax.
Two years ago Osoyoos came close to passing an AHRT, but that failed when a majority of hotel operators opposed the move.
But according to Osoyoos Hotel & Motel Association (OHMA) President Ron Stephens, this time it's different, for two reasons, so there is more support among hoteliers for the tax.
First, the provincial government has added the resort funding component this year, contingent on Osoyoos adopting the additional hotel room tax.
And second, Stephens told the Osoyoos Times Monday after the Council meeting, the hotel industry believes it will have control over what local tourism projects much of the additional money is spent on.
That's because a process for administering the new money, drawn up by Destination Osoyoos, sets out a Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) which would have all voting members coming from the local accommodation sector, and TAC would advise on, approve and monitor the marketing objectives, activities and overall use of the AHRT funds remitted to and administered by Destination Osoyoos on behalf of the local tourism industry…rnThe TAC members would initially be appointed by OHMA and later would be elected at an OHMA meeting.
At Monday's meeting, Town Council passed a motion from Councillor Allan Carswell to give the resolution for the hotel room tax just first and second reading, and not third reading yet. He said that's because there needs to be clarification about whether it is Destination Osoyoos, TAC or Town Council that has the ultimate authority over spending the new money.
Stephens says the hotel operators believe the draft process will have them in charge of the spending, and if that's not the case, their support and the whole arrangement could fall apart.
He says he still needs to finish taking a full poll of all OHMA members' support for the AHRT and will give Council the results soon.
In a report to Monday's Council meeting, Destination Osoyoos said it had determined that there are at least 14 of Osoyoos' 26 hotel and motel operators in favour of the tax, representing 695 rooms “ or 65 per cent of all local hotel and motel rooms.
Councillor Stu Wells said the new funds will be a great thing for Osoyoos, and OHMA gets to spend the money.
Carswell said the AHRT and the new resort funding is a great program which is why he wants Council to move cautiously and make sure it does everything correctly in proceeding to get the new tourism funding.