Form revised February 12, 2004

FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS

Department:	Contact Person/Phone:	DOF Analyst/Phone:
Legislative	Nate Van Duzer/206-233-7801	N/A

Legislation Title:

AN ORDINANCE establishing a Seattle Tourism Business Improvement Area; levying special assessments upon hotel businesses within the area; providing for the deposit of revenues in a special account and expenditures therefrom; providing for collection of and penalties for delinquencies; providing for the establishment of a Ratepayers Advisory Board, and providing for an implementation agreement with a Program Manager.

· Summary of the Legislation:

This ordinance creates a Tourism Business Improvement Area as allowed under RCW 35.87A to be known as the Seattle Tourism Improvement Area (STIA). Hotels over 60 rooms in size within the geographic boundaries shown in Exhibit A will include a $2 per occupied room per night surcharge to guests. The purpose of the funds collected will be to pay for promotion and marketing activities intended to increase hotel occupancy within the boundaries of the STIA. The City would contract with a Program Manager to administer these activities. The STIA’s Program Manager will be overseen by a Ratepayer Advisory Board, which would be broadly representative of the ratepayers in the area covered by the improvement district.

· Background:

This ordinance is the final piece of legislation that must be prepared, per RCW 35.87A, to establish a Tourism Business Improvement Area to be known as the Seattle Tourism Improvement Area (STIA). The City has passed a resolution to initiate the formation of the STIA along with the passage of a resolution of intent that included the time, date and location of a public hearing. After the public hearing, the Council agreed to go forward with this ordinance that will impose a special assessment on hotel properties within the STIA boundaries as shown in Exhibit A. 

A proposal was put together by Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, with the support of the Seattle Hotel Association, to create the Seattle Tourism Improvement Area (STIA). These organizations worked to collect signatures for a petition to form a business improvement area that will allow for the promotion and marketing of leisure tourism in Seattle, with the goal of increasing hotel occupancy. The petitioning effort resulted in a 77% show of support by 41 of the 53 affected hotel property owners. This exceeds the required demonstration of 60% financial support from the responsible ratepayers.

· Please check one of the following:

____ This legislation does not have any financial implications. (Stop here and delete the remainder of this document prior to saving and printing.)

__X_ This legislation has financial implications. (Please complete all relevant sections that follow.)

Anticipated Revenue/Reimbursement: Resulting From This Legislation: This table should reflect revenues/reimbursements that are a direct result of this legislation.  In the event that the issues/projects associated with this ordinance/resolution have revenues or reimbursements that were, or will be, received because of previous or future legislation or budget actions, please provide details in the Notes section below the table.

Fund Name and Number	Department	Revenue Source	2011 Revenue	2012 Revenue
198XX Seattle Tourism Improvement Area	Finance and Administrative Services	Ratepayer Assessments	$1,00,000.00	$6,000,000.00
TOTAL			$1,000,000.00	$6,000,000.00

Notes:   In the first year, the special assessment will provide approximately $1,000,000.00 in revenue for leisure tourism promotion and marketing costs of the STIA. Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) would collect the assessments from the ratepayers, but the funds would then be kept by FAS only for reimbursement to the Seattle Tourism Improvement Area.

Total Regular Positions Created Or Abrogated Through This Legislation, Including FTE Impact:  This table should only reflect the actual number of positions created by this legislation  In the event that positions have been, or will be, created as a result of previous or future legislation or budget actions, please provide details in the Notes section below the table.

Position Title and Department*

Fund Name

Fund Number

Part-Time/ Full Time

2011 Positions

2011 FTE

2012 Positions**

2012 FTE**

TOTAL

0

0

0

0

*   List each position separately

** 2011 positions and FTE are total 2012 position changes resulting from this legislation, not incremental changes. Therefore, under 2012, please be sure to include any continuing positions from 2011

Notes: Discussions with FAS indicate that existing staff resources can handle any administrative functions related to the STIA necessary for the City to perform.

· Do positions sunset in the future?  (If yes, identify sunset date): 

Not applicable.

Spending/Cash Flow: This table should be completed only in those cases where part or all of the funds authorized by this legislation will be spent in a different year than when they were appropriated (e.g., as in the case of certain grants and capital projects).  Details surrounding spending that will occur in future years should be provided in the Notes section below the table.

Fund Name and Number	Department	Budget Control Level*	2011 Expenditures	2012 Anticipated Expenditures
198XX Seattle Tourism Improvement Area	Finance and Administrative Services	Not applicable.	$1,000,000.00	$6,000,000.00
TOTAL			$1,000,000.00	$6,000,000.00

* See budget book to obtain the appropriate Budget Control Level for your department.

Notes:  Again, FAS would collect the assessments from the ratepayers, but the funds would then be kept by FAS only for reimbursement to the Seattle Tourism Improvement Area, which would actually administer the staffing, projects and other costs associated with the STIA.

· What is the financial cost of not implementing the legislation? (Estimate the costs to the City of not implementing the legislation, including estimated costs to maintain or expand an existing facility or the cost avoidance due to replacement of an existing facility, potential conflicts with regulatory requirements, or other costs if the legislation is not implemented.)

None.  The STIA is established as a revenue-neutral program. 

What are the possible alternatives to the legislation that could achieve the same or similar objectives? (Include any potential alternatives to the proposed legislation, such as reducing fee-supported activities, identifying outside funding sources for fee-supported activities, etc.) 

None.  Improvement area services are in addition to, and not a replacement of, basic City services, and are funded by assessments on the properties that benefit from the services.  If the legislation is not passed, the services under the improvement area will not be provided.

· Is the legislation subject to public hearing requirements:  (If yes, what public hearings have been held to date, and/or what plans are in place to hold a public hearing(s).) 

No

· Other Issues (including long-term implications of the legislation):  None.

Please list attachments to the fiscal note below: 

Exhibit A:  Map of proposed STIA