For all the interlinked pieces of the “downtown puzzle”-solving plan that Mayor Steve Adler unveiled Monday morning – and in a 20-minute speech he name-checked just about every relevant downtown Austin presence – the ambitious and far-reaching policy gambit boils down to one key transaction. That exchange would see hotel guests and their wallets as […]
Hotel Occupancy Tax
A tax on the rental of a room in a hotel or other rental properties (including apartments) that cost 6 percent of the cost of a room.
Posted inAustin
Can an expanded convention center solve the ‘downtown puzzle’?
After months of research, city staff has come up with a few ways that City Council can find money to begin solving the so-called “downtown puzzle,” the expression used by Mayor Steve Adler to describe a host of potential downtown projects that could benefit the city. Those projects include expansion of the Austin Convention Center […]
Posted inTravis County
Eckhardt sends Adler a HOT letter
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt has put Mayor Steve Adler and Interim City Manager Elaine Hart on notice that the county is still keeping alive its interest in levying a tax on tourists. In a letter sent to both city officials on Friday, Eckhardt recounted the Commissioners Court’s recent vote to study the impacts of […]
Posted inPolice
Public Safety Commission has a HOT debate
As the city of Austin scrounges for money to hire more police officers, firefighters and paramedics, it shouldn’t look to the tourism industry for help. That was the message delivered to the Public Safety Commission Monday by Bill Worsham, a member of the Visitor Impact Task Force, which recently approved a report endorsing a 2 […]
Posted inAustin
Visit Austin contract included lobbying Council
When the CEO for the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, recently renamed Visit Austin, signed his employment contract with the organization last May, the contract included an addendum directing him to develop a strategy for lobbying City Council to enlarge the Austin Convention Center. According to an addendum to Visit Austin CEO Tom Noonan’s contract, he […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Conspiracies
Think before you speak… As we reported, last week’s final meeting of the Visitor Impact Task Force was a marathon affair. After nearly six months of meetings, the group kicked off the final round of bargaining over the details of a potential Austin Convention Center expansion with rumors swirling that the final confab could last […]
Posted inAustin
Task force endorses plan to expand convention center
After nearly six months of toil, a visibly exhausted Visitor Impact Task Force granted its imprimatur to a proposal to fund the expansion of the Austin Convention Center, albeit with a number of attached recommendations. Tuesday’s vote came at the end of a nearly five-hour meeting held on the 17th floor of the Hyatt Regency […]
Posted inTravis County
HOT talk at Commissioners Court
The proposal to expand the Austin Convention Center could not only gobble up several downtown blocks, it could also swallow whole an untapped revenue stream worth millions of dollars each year for Travis County. On Tuesday, the Commissioners Court took action to open up talks with City Council aimed at finding a mutually beneficial solution. […]
Posted inParks
Parks officials eye hotel tax dollars for underfunded capital projects
With changes expected in how Austin allocates its fast-growing pool of tax money generated from local hotel and motel stays, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department has put forward the first version of its wish list for expensive infrastructure projects. On Thursday, City Council approved the transfer of nearly $1 million of Hotel Occupancy Tax […]
Posted inAustin
Convention center advocates taking pro-expansion message to community
A new coalition of Austin business, political and civic leaders is putting its support behind the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center and will be taking the message to local groups in the coming months. Known as A New Vision for Austin’s Convention Center, the coalition is operating with some assistance from the Austin Convention & Visitors […]
Posted inAustin
Austin parks groups propose new uses for hotel tax funds
Several groups made their cases for funding last night at a meeting of the Visitors Impact Task Force. The board is charged with exploring new uses for hotel tax revenue before a decision by City Council. Board members heard from Kim McKnight with the Parks and Recreation Department. “While the promotion of amenities paid for […]
Posted inAustin
Parks conservancies making their case for hotel tax dollars
Local parks advocates are stepping up their efforts to direct revenue from the city’s fast-growing Hotel Occupancy Tax toward the long-term capital needs of parks and recreation facilities throughout Austin. Projects such as a master plan for Barton Springs as well as ambitious renovations of the spring’s historic bath house and the Beverly S. Sheffield […]