Oakland to vote on new tax for CVB - bizjournals Business Travel Guide

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City residents must vote by mail on Measure C beforr July 22 on whether to bumpthe city’s transit occupanchy tax by 3 percent, to 14 Half of the revenue from the tax increase will fund the CVB, whichy lost all city funding at the end of 2008 and has been survivinhg on its cash reserves since then. The other half will be dividex evenlyamong , , the and generalk support for arts and culture in Oakland. Manette CEO of the Oakland CVB, said she expects the tax, if will bring in $3 million in 2010. If the CVB gets $1.5 that will more than replace the funding it received from the The four cultural groups could be poisesd toreceive $375,000 each.
The TOT budgetr measure replaces an earlier plan to create a Tourism Businesd Improvement District similar to the one San Franciscl passedlast fall. “In the end, (the TOT increase) providees about the same amount of money to the bureah asthe TBID, more people benefit, and it provides a dedicated source of fundingb for everybody,” Belliveau said. The ballot measure faces no organized opposition andrequires two-thirdw of the vote to Should it fail, the Tourism BID is still an option, Belliveau said. “Thisx will be an important piece of replacint andadding to” lost city funding, said Alex an Oakland CVB board member and executiver director of Chabot.
Chabot’e earned revenue is up 7 percenthis year, Zwissler said, but contributed incomde is off by 20 percent, putting greatr strain on the museum’s $10 millionm budget. Oakland has close to 5,200 hotel which have suffered with the Few conventionshave cancelled, but attendance is down at leasg 20 percent, with some groups down more than that. Transit occupancy tax a combination of occupancy androom rates, are down 18 percentg year to date, Belliveau added. “In the past ... we wouldf not know where our money was coming from twoyears out.” Belliveau said. “This allow us to lay some groundwork longer termfor Oakland.
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