EVERETT — Groups sponsoring tourism-related activities in Everett should compete for city hotel-tax funds, the city’s lodging-tax advisory committee recommended Monday.
For the past few years, the city has distributed all hotel-tax money to four recipients: the Everett Events Center, Everett Memorial Stadium, the Salty Sea Days festival and the Snohomish County Visitor Information Centers.
The city expects to receive about $200,000 in hotel-tax money next year, but most of that is tied up in long-term contracts with the events center and the stadium.
Salty Sea Days, the visitor information centers and other groups should submit detailed proposals explaining why they should get a portion of the rest of the $47,000, the committee recommended.
The recommendation goes to the budget committee, which may take up the issue at the end of the month. Budget committee members have said they want to open up the funding process. The full City Council has the ultimate say on how to spend the hotel-tax funds.
The vote on Salty Sea Days wasn’t a surprise. On Aug. 25, the lodging committee recommended that the city end a "perpetual" contact with the Salty Sea Days Association that guaranteed the group at least $70,000 a year in hotel-tax money.
Controversy over the contract wasn’t the only reason for the recommendation: The sour economy meant that there will probably be far less than $70,000 in extra hotel-tax money to distribute next year.
The visitor centers, which are run by the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau and staffed by 128 volunteers, distribute tourist information about the county at three locations, including one just outside Everett. In addition, the centers place advertisements promoting Snohomish County in several national and regional publications.
Committee member Frank McCord said the centers should receive tax money only if they directly benefit Everett.
"I don’t want to fund the whole county," he said. "I want to fund Everett."
Sandra Ward, the tourism bureau’s executive director, welcomed the chance to convince the city that it deserved the $16,512 it received this year.
"We never expected this money would come automatically," Ward said. "We’re delighted to compete. We know we run a good visitor service."
Each year, the bureau asks the county and 12 cities to contribute to the fund. The amount the bureau requests from each city is based on the city’s population and how much — if any — hotel-tax money it collects. Cities and the county have always agreed to contribute the requested share, she said.
Ward said that if Everett ends its contribution, the bureau could have to cut services.
The city of Snohomish is a fan of the bureau. The money the city gives to the centers "gives us a big bang for the buck," said Brad Nelson, support services director for Snohomish. "The $1,013 we contribute is providing an excellent return on our investment."
Magazine advertisements and the bureau’s marketing campaign provide invaluable exposure for the county — and some of those visitors end up spending money in Snohomish, he said.
"They do an aggressive and good job of marketing the county, which of course benefits us," agreed Mary Monroe, project tourism manager for Lynnwood, which this year contributed $12,600 to the centers. "If you drove through the county and there were no information available, you’d probably keep on driving."
It is unclear whether Salty Sea Days Association will ask for city money. McCord said the Salty Sea Days board — on which he sits — is planning to dissolve itself in the coming weeks.
But fellow Salty Sea Days board member and former executive director Marion Pope insists that the festival will return for its 34th season in June, and she wants it to request part of the hotel-tax money.
Reporter David Olson:
425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
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