NOTICE: The City of Wenatchee's Lodging Tax Advisory Committee has approved an application process for use of hotel-motel tax funds for tourism promotion activities. Click on the following link for the application:
LTAC Hotel-Motel Tax Request Application,
Application Overview and
Impact Calculator (Excel spreadsheet). For more information please contact Allison Williams, Executive Services Director, at (509) 888-6216 or
awilliams@wenatcheewa.gov.
LODGING TAX ADVISORY COMMITTEE PURPOSE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The City of Wenatchee levies a special excise tax on the sale of or charge made for furnishing of lodging that is subject to tax under Chapter 82.08 RCW.
The purpose and responsibilities of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee are:
1. Review and make recommendations to the City Council on any proposal to increase the rate of lodging tax, repeal of an exemption from lodging tax, or a change in use of lodging tax revenue received by the City.
2. Research and analyze emerging trends in tourism promotion through contact and on site exchanges with other communities with similar characteristics.
3. Communicate and coordinate with the Tourism Promotion Area Board and other organizations and agencies that possess similar goals and/or complimentary purposes.
4. Recommend to the City Council a strategy for the use of lodging tax revenues that maximizes the investment of taxes for allowed purposes.
5. Review and recommend proposals for the use of lodging tax dollars and make recommendations to City Council.
6. Evaluate the performance of contractors and organizations supported by City lodging tax dollars based on contract metrics and the use of an annual third party survey process for contract evaluation; and recommend to City Council the continuation, modification or termination of service contracts based on performance.
7. Conduct other activities related to the use of lodging tax funds and the promotion of tourism as directed by City Council.
The regular meetings of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 3:00 PM at the Wenatchee City Hall, 129 South Chelan, Wenatchee, WA 98801. Click
here for a roster of the current board members.
EVALUATION OF TOURISM INDICATORS AND RATING SYSTEMS STUDY
At the request of the City of Wenatchee and the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, the economic and development consulting firm E. D. Hovee & Company, LLC has conducted a preliminary evaluation of tourism indicators and rating systems that might be utilized in the evaluation of tourism contracts and deliverables. Specific work task objectives of this assessment are essentially two-fold:
• Task 1 – Identify measurable deliverables, based on standard tourism industry indicators that would be effective for a tourism marketing business plan and tourism contracts to be funded by the LTAC.
• Task 2 – Prepare an objective rating system to be used on an ongoing basis to evaluate tourism contracts for the LTAC.
Click
here for a copy of the Hotel-Motel Tax Impact Measurement Study.