Hotel tax increase would fund most aggressive convention center plan in Austin
A 2-percentage-point uptick in the city’s hotel occupancy tax appears to be the most favored method of expanding the Austin Convention Center and turning the area around it into a lifestyle and tourist epicenter.
That financing option, which would be a key part of a possible $609 million expansion, was one of several discussed recently by members of the city’s Visitor Impact Task Force and representatives from the convention center and the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Those groups and stakeholders in local arts, historic preservation and environmental attractions are working through the end of March on recommendations for how the city can best administer revenue from the HOT tax, currently a 15 percent levy paid by hotel guests that generated about $100 million last year.
Because of a complicated series of state and county regulations for how the tax revenue can be used – and the options for increasing the tax and how to disperse any new funds – the so-called “2B” option for the convention center project seems to offer the most flexibility and ability to think big.
Read more: http://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2017/02/hotel-tax-increase-fund-aggressive-convention-center-plan/