A business improvement district, hereafter referred to as the Albuquerque Tourism Marketing District ("ATMD"), is established and is hereby authorized to be created under the following terms and conditions:
(A) The initial period of existence for the ATMD shall be for a five year period, from July 1, 2022, or as soon as possible thereafter, and end five years from its start date. Prior to the expiration of the ATMD's initial term, the City Council shall review the ATMD to determine whether it should remain in existence and be renewed. If a majority of the City Council decides that the purpose for which the ATMD was created has been served and that it is in the best interest for the ATMD, the City Council shall terminate the ATMD's status by ordinance or resolution and record the ordinance or resolution with the municipal clerk. If the City Council determines that the ATMD should remain in existence, it may renew the ATMD for an additional five year term.
(B) The ATMD District Plan, dated March 2, 2022, prepared by the Planning Group is hereby adopted and approved.
(C) The ATMD shall provide additional tourism promotion services and improvements that are designed and intended to increase overnight visitation to ATMD lodging businesses and the city. The additional tourism promotion services and improvements to be provided are sales, marketing, and communications; visitor services enhancements; destination product development/partner grants; and related administration programs, as described in Section IV of the ATMD District Plan. The ATMD District Plan is attached to Ord. 2022-015 as "Exhibit B".
(D) The additional tourism promotion services and improvements to be provided by the ATMD are intended and designed to increase overnight visitation to and room sales at lodging businesses within the boundaries of the ATMD. The businesses to be assessed a business improvement benefit fee for the ATMD are all lodging businesses, existing and in the future, available for public occupancy within the boundaries of the commercial areas of the City of Albuquerque as shown on the map attached to Ord. 2022-015 as "Exhibit A". LODGING BUSINESS means: a hotel, apartment, apartment hotel, apartment house, lodge, lodging house, rooming house, motor hotel, guest house, bed and breakfast, guest ranch, ranch resort, mobile home, motor court, auto court, trailer court, trailer camp, tourist camp, cabin or other premises used for lodging.
(E) The ATMD business improvement benefit fee is levied solely upon the ATMD lodging businesses, and the lodging business owners are solely responsible for payment of the business improvement benefit fee when due. If the lodging business owner chooses to collect any portion of the business improvement benefit fee from a guest, that portion shall be specifically called out and identified for the guest in any and all communications from the lodging business owner as the "Tourism Marketing Benefit Fee" as specified in the District Plan.
(F) The additional tourism promotion services and improvements to be provided by the ATMD shall be funded by the levy of a business improvement benefit fee on lodging businesses within the ATMD boundary, as recommended by the Planning Group. The business improvement benefit fee shall be levied on the basis of benefit to the ATMD lodging businesses. Because the additional tourism promotion services and improvements to be provided by the ATMD are intended to increase room rentals at ATMD lodging businesses, a business improvement benefit fee based on room rentals is the best measure of benefit. The annual business improvement benefit fee shall be 2% of ATMD lodging businesses' gross room rental revenue. The total five year improvement and service plan budget is projected at approximately $4,800,000 annually, or $24,000,000 total over the term of the ATMD. This amount may fluctuate as sales and revenue increase at assessed lodging businesses. Furthermore, as calculation of the ATMD budget was based on data collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this amount may fluctuate in accordance with post-COVID economic circumstances. Based on the benefit received, business improvement benefit fees will not be levied on: stays of more than 30 consecutive days; stays pursuant to a written agreement for at least 30 consecutive days; stays by any person to whom rent is charged at the rate of $2 per day or less; stays at institutions of the federal government, the state or any political subdivisions thereof; stays at religious, charitable, educational, or philanthropic institutions, including without limitation stays at summer camps operated by such institutions; stays at clinics, hospitals, or other medical facilities; stays at privately-operated convalescent homes or homes for the aged, infirm, indigent, or chronically ill; stays at any short term rental unit; and stays pursuant to contracts executed prior to July 11 2022.
(G) Bonds shall not be issued to fund ATMD services or improvements or for the retirement of pre-existing debt of the city.
(H) Pursuant to NMSA Section 3-63-11, the City Council hereby appoints Visit Albuquerque, an existing nonprofit corporation operating within the boundaries of the district, to serve as the management committee for the ATMD. Visit Albuquerque shall be responsible for the operation of the ATMD and the administration and implementation of the District Plan. Visit Albuquerque shall serve as the management committee for the five year term of the ATMD unless removed earlier by the City Council. As the ATMD management committee, Visit Albuquerque shall do all of the following:
(1) Prepare and file annually with the City Council for its review and approval a budget and progress report for the ATMD;
(2) Administer all improvements within the ATMD;
(3) Recommend the annual assessment to be made by the City Council; and
(4) File annually with the City Council a report of the ATMD activities for the preceding fiscal year, which report shall include a complete financial statement setting forth its assets, liabilities, income, and operating expenses as of the end of the fiscal year and the benefits of the ATMD's program to the ATMD lodging businesses’ owners.
(I) During the operation of the ATMD, there shall be a 30 day period each year in which ATMD lodging businesses may request disestablishment of the ATMD. The first such period shall begin one year after the date of establishment of the ATMD and shall continue for 30 days. Each successive year of operation of the ATMD have such a 30 day period. Upon the written petition of ATMD lodging businesses comprising at least 51% of the total number of lodging businesses then operating within the ATMD, the City Council shall notice a hearing on disestablishment of the ATMD.
(J) It is the intention of the City Council to adopt by reference and incorporate into this article all of the definitions of terms set forth in the Business Improvement District Act, N.M.S.A. Sections 3-63-1 et seq.
(K) It is the intention of the City Council to confer the broadest discretion to the management committee to accomplish its goals, limited only by the express terms of the Business Improvement District Act, N.M.S.A. Sections 3-63-1 et seq., as that State Statute now exists or may be revised, and upon the further limitation that no ATMD service or improvement may duplicate services or improvements provided by the city.
(L) The City Clerk, or his or her designee, is directed to take all necessary actions to complete the establishment of the ATMD.
(Ord. 2022-015; Am. Ord. 2022-021)