Douglas County room tax may increase 1% to fund event center at Lake Tahoe

Transient Lodging License taxes may soon be increased one percent at properties in the Lake Tahoe portion of Douglas County (Lake Tahoe Township) to fund redevelopment projects including the addition of an event/convention center.

Overwhelming support for the tax increase was evident at the Douglas County Commissioner's meeting Thursday, where the elected officials voted 4-1 to approve the increase which would go into effect May 1, 2017.

Before that can happen county staff will need to complete a Business Impact Statement, and then the ordinance will go back to the commissioners for a review on April 6 and implementation at their April 20 meeting.

Currently, vacation rental, timeshare and lodging properties in Tahoe Township pay three percent lodging license tax as well as a 10 percent transient occupancy tax. Each room rented will go to a 14 percent tax if approved.

The additional revenue, estimated at $600,000 annually, would be to fund feasibility of, planning for, and/or funding economic redevelopment projects within the Lake Tahoe Township. A notice of the proposed ordinance will be sent to all current payers of the Transient Lodging License Tax within the Lake Tahoe Township, and they will be invited to provide input as to the business impact of the proposed one percent transient lodging license tax increase.

Several representatives from those businesses were at Thursday's meeting. Edgewood Tahoe, Harrahs and Harveys, MontBleu, Tahoe Chamber, Zephyr Cove Resort, Ridge Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort, South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association all gave their support of the tax increase which would affect their customers.

The Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority (TDVA) is behind the tax increase after members of the private sector approached them for an economic redevelopment project like an event center. They were formed in 1997 when tourism revenues in the area started to decline. TDVA was tasked with using funds exclusively for a) The advertising, publicizing and promotion of tourism and recreation; and b) The planning, construction and operation of a convention center in the Township.

TDVA currently gets two percent of the lodging license tax and parks & recreation facilities get the other one percent. If the ordinance passes, TDVA will then get three percent, parks & recreation remains at one percent.

The South Tahoe Alliance of Resorts (STAR) has already hired Convention, Sports & Leisure International to look into the feasibility of an event center in the MontBleu Casino parking lot on the corner of US50 and Lake Parkway. The company, who has complete studies for the San Francisco 49ers, Reno Aces, Oregon Ducks, Detroit Lions and Miami Beach Convention Center, believes the new South Shore center could bring in events 130 times a year, adding an additional $30 million in revenue to both sides of the state line.

"We need a convention center for large groups," said Tim Tretton, MontBleu's General Manager. "This would be a real game changer for the whole area."

The extra $600,000 a year would not be enough to build the proposed event center, but for now it will fund the studies and TDVR would have to secure a bond to build it. It will take an estimated two years to complete the studies before a center could begin construction.

"There is clear commitment of Tahoe Township to provide the community with a benefit," said Carol Chaplin of TDVA.

Several touted the benefits of a convention center that would bring in visitors during the off season, and provide year-round jobs to the local community.

"This was a speck of an idea seven years ago," said Attorney Lou Feldman. "There is now lots of good movement on the Nevada side." Edgewood Tahoe will be opening their new resort hotel with restaurants this spring, and work is underway at the Tahoe Beach Club.

Voters in the City of South Lake Tahoe recently voted to increase the transient occupancy tax (TOT) by two percent to 12 percent for all areas of the city except for the tourist core area, which is now 14 percent. All revenue raised from the extra taxes will fund a new recreation complex.

Washoe County visitors pay 13.5 percent TOT and San Francisco is at 14 percent.

The lone decent vote was made by Commissioner Larry Walsh.