City to spend less to bolster tourism

Electric City will spend thousands less on boosting tourism efforts and related job growth after the city council reversed itself in a 3-2 vote last week.

The council last Tuesday night backed off its previous decision in November to spend 75 percent of its annual hotel/motel taxes each year, choosing instead to stay with its present ordinance that fixes spending at 50 percent of what comes in during a given year.

John Nordine, one of two council members on the tourism committee, told the council that he would still like to see the city do a tourism-related project with money held in the city’s reserve account.

Electric City has some $290,000 in its hotel/motel reserve account, and takes in about $65,000 a year from the tax on stays at motels and campgrounds. The largest share of that comes from Sunbanks Lake Resort on Banks Lake. The tax is authorized by the state Legislature for the purpose of promoting tourism.

Electric City provides funds each year from its hotel/motel money to such groups as the chamber of commerce, Coulee Area Park & Recreation District, and the Ridge Riders Saddle Club.

It was a tough sell for Nordine, but the council ended up voting in his favor by 3-2.

Nordine and Councilmember Lonna Bussert argued the point, with Bussert supporting giving more money to the chamber of commerce, which uses it to advertise the area.

Contacted later, Peggy Nevsimal, executive director of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, said the decision will likely “reduce our opportunity to have any broadcast advertising this year,” cutting up to $10,000 out of that budget.

“The money we spent this year on broadcast advertising directly influenced our huge success for Festival of America attendance (300% increase) and the overall increase in tourism this last summer (even with bad smoke weeks). Overall tourism was up this year (5.7% increase in traffic at the Dam),” Nevsimal wrote in an email responding to a request for comment.

While Bussert supported repealing the ordinance restricting expenditures to 50 percent, Nordine said he would like to have some time to come up with ideas for projects that could be funded with hotel/motel tax dollars. The other council member on the hotel/motel committee is Aaron Derr.

The repeal failed. Voting to keep it at the 50 percent level were council members Nordine, Marie Chuinard and Brad Parrish, who voted by phone from out of town. Bussert and Derr voted for the repeal.

Parrish had voted on the other side of issue in November.