(A) The 7% fee shall be remitted to the City consistent with § 115.09, except that the operator may retain 5% of the overall collected transient room tax revenue to help defray costs associated with the administration and collection of the fee. Records must adequately show that the retained portion is accurate.
(B) Thirty percent of the collected taxes shall be placed in the General Fund to be used to fund city services.
(C) (1) Seventy percent of the collected taxes shall be placed in a special revenue fund to be known as the Tourism Fund. The Tourism Fund shall be used to fund tourism promotion, tourism activities, or tourism-related facilities as determined and approved by the City Council. The City Council may accept guidance, recommendations, and proposals provided by the Tourism Committee when allocating the Tourism Fund. TOURISM PROMOTION means any of the following activities:
(a) Advertising, publicizing, or distributing information for the purpose of attracting and welcoming tourists;
(b) Conducting strategic planning and research necessary to stimulate future tourism development;
(c) Operating tourism promotion agencies as defined by ORS 320.300(8); and
(d) Marketing special events, activities, and festivals designed to attract tourists.
(2) TOURISM-RELATED FACILITIES are conference centers, convention centers, visitor information centers, and other improved real property that has a useful life of ten or more years and has a substantial purpose of supporting tourism or accommodating tourist activities.
(3) TOURISM ACTIVITIES means supporting or enabling individual or specific projects, events, or festivals specifically designed to improve the City’s quality of life or sense of place that may also attract tourists to the City, as designated and approved solely by the City Council. Activities may include, but are not limited to:
(a) City beautification projects;
(b) Activities, events, festivals, or functions hosted by the City and provided to the community “free of charge;”
(c) Activities, events, festivals, or functions hosted by other government entities that benefit the City and the local community as a whole; and
(d) Activities, events, festivals, or functions hosted by non-City entities that benefit the City and the local community as a whole.
(Ord. 663, passed 6-3-2020)