Lodging tax funding OK’d

The Spokane Valley City Council unanimously approved the funding recommendations put forward by the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee at its meeting Tuesday evening.

A total of $570,000 was available for allocation; local organizations had applied for $855,639.

The council rejected the first round of allocations, sending them back to the Lodging Tax Committee which met and redistributed funds on Feb. 25.

Some organizations had applied for more funding than they received, including the Spokane Sports Commission which applied for $200,000 and is getting $120,000. The proposed location of a new multi-sport facility just north of Riverfront Park remains a bone of contention with the City Council, which would rather have the facility in Spokane Valley.

At the lodging tax committee meeting in February, Spokane Sports Commission President Eric Sawyer told the committee that the sports commission had missed bidding on three events – two of which are national championships – because the commission didn’t know if it was going to get funding from Spokane Valley.

Sawyer reminded the lodging tax committee that the Sports Commission can track 12,000 Valley hotel room nights that have been booked because of its events.

Visit Spokane asked for $46,000 for a visitors center that would be located near the freeway – in a yet to be built commercial building – but did not receive that funding.

The Valley Heritage Museum asked for $28,209 but was awarded almost $10,000 less.

Jayne Singleton, the museum’s director, said she’d been able to defer some invoices while waiting for the funding.

“We did go ahead with our marketing plan – I hope we will get funded because we did make a commitment,” Singleton told the committee in February.

The committee did award $68,000 to the Browns Park volleyball project which would make it possible to build two more courts before volleyball season begins in May.

Also at its Feb. 25 meeting, at the urging of council member Ben Wick, the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee recommended that the City Council approve an extra 1.3 percent tax on the sale of lodging, bringing the total tax to the maximum allowed 12 percent.

The 1.3 percent would be put aside to construct a sporting venue or venues, or for a tourism facility, that would generate overnight guests in Spokane Valley.

Deputy City Attorney Erik Lamb explained to the council that it can impose this tax after a 45-day public comment period. The earliest the council can take action on the tax is at its April 11 meeting.