Latest news with #HotelOccupancyTax
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Applications for Brownsville tourism funding from nonprofits sought
May 21—The city of Brownsville Convention and Visitors Bureau is inviting local, nonprofit organizations to apply for Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds to promote tourism in the city. The city said it's part of the CVB's "annual collaboration with local organizations to market and promote Brownsville as a visitor's destination." The HOT revenue it generated by hotel bookings in Brownsville. Every dollar awarded must "directly enhance and promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry within the city," according to the CVB. To be eligible, applicants' projects must fall into one of several categories, including "funding the establishment, improvement or maintenance of a convention center of visitor information center; paying the administrative costs for facilitating convention registration; paying for advertising, solicitations and promotions that attract tourists and convention delegates to the city or its vicinity; expenditures that promote the arts." Categories also included involve "funding historical restoration or preservation programs; funding the enhancement or upgrading of existing sports facilities or sports fields; funding transportation systems for tourists; signage directing tourists to sights and attractions that are visited frequently by hotel guests." Those interested in applying for HOT funds are encouraged to attend one of two HOT educational workshops the CVB has scheduled for June 9 at the CVB complex, 1312 E. Adams St. in Brownsville. The workshops are scheduled for 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. on that day. June 22 is the deadline to apply for HOT funds. Featured Local Savings
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Construction officially starts on new Austin Convention Center
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Just weeks after South by Southwest ended, construction has already begun on the new Austin Convention Center. Austin leaders hosted an official event Thursday. 'Today is the official closure of the Austin Convention Center. We are unveiling Unconventional ATX, which is the new Austin Convention Center project,' said Trisha Tatro, director of the Austin Convention Center Department. The city of Austin first released renderings of the new space earlier this year. City leaders say it will make the area more walkable and add green space. 'The redevelopment of the Convention Center will create a vital downtown amenity and urban connector,' said Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. 'With a design that emphasizes street-level openness and accessibility, vibrant public plazas, and pedestrian-friendly pathways, this transformation will enhance connectivity and inclusivity, creating a more accessible and engaging downtown experience for residents and visitors.' The $1.6 billion project will nearly double the rentable square footage of the existing facility, growing from 365,000 square feet to 620,000 square feet of rentable space, according to a release from the city in February. 'We took about half of our leads that we got, and we put them right in the trash can because we were either sold out or too small,' said Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Austin. 'Now we're going to be much more competitive.' What's the deal with SXSW when the Austin Convention Center closes for reconstruction? The project, which the city calls Unconventional ATX, is being funded through Hotel Occupancy Tax and Convention Center revenues — no property taxes are going toward the project, the city said. The convention center is expected to reopen in 2029. According to the city, the new convention center will be the world's first zero-carbon-certified convention center (International Living Futures Institute). The design of the center 'reimagines traditional event spaces,' a city release said. It will prioritize accessibility, flexibility, and sustainability. $1.6B Austin Convention Center expansion to start in 2025 The design also aims to enhance connectivity with surrounding districts, including the Waterloo Greenway, Palm District, and Project Connect initiatives, the city noted. It will prioritize public access and multimodal transit by reopening Third Street for multimodal traffic and transforming Second Street into a pedestrian-friendly corridor. 'There will be retail and open green spaces for not only the community to celebrate and enjoy and partake in but also our visitors,' Tatro said. The convention center will also showcase art installations, interactive exhibits, and artist-driven spaces that 'celebrate Austin's diverse creative community,' a release said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wichita County could soon add hotel tax to boost economic development
AUSTIN (KFDX/KJTL) — Wichita County could soon have its own Hotel Occupancy Tax after Representative James Frank filed a bill to push economic development in the area. As the deadline to file bills this legislative session nears, Frank filed House Bill 3567 on February 28. According to Frank's weekly newsletter update and the bill's text, it would allow the Wichita County Commissioners to establish an H.O.T. of up to two percent until 2030. The text defines what the revenue raised from the tax could fund, such as: Supporting local events such as Hotter'N Hell Hundred and T.H.O.R. Construction of an amphitheater, park, or other similar public space to promote arts Provide grants to art and cultural organizations to develop, promote, and attract visitors Funding for the Museum of North Texas History Hiring staff to manage the funds The bill could go into effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of House members to support the bill. Read the full text below: Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These Austin historic sites received nearly $33M for upgrades, rehabilitation work
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin has allocated nearly $33 million toward heritage preservation efforts toward some of the city's historic sites this fiscal year. Austin City Council approved Thursday the nearly $33 million allocation for historic preservation and restoration projects for fiscal year 2024-25. That funding amounted to: Nearly $14 million for capital improvement projects at historic sites Just over $3 million for staffing resources to aid operations $3.2 million for heritage preservation grants at certain historic sites $10 million for land appropriation for 'potential future historic acquisition or major preservation project,' per city documents $2.5 million for a contract with Rally Austin 'for the implementation and disbursement of the Iconic Venue Fund and associated support fees' Some of the sites receiving city dollars include the Old Bakery & Emporium, Evergreen Cemetery, Austin History Center, Deep Eddy Grocery & Cabaret, Huston-Tillotson University and the Neill-Cochran House. A breakdown of those capital improvement projects and heritage preservation grant recipients is detailed below. From an operations standpoint, council approved nearly $3.2 million for the following facilities: 13 temporary staff, 10 full-time employees, program administration and general historic property maintenance personnel at: Old Bakery & Emporium, O. Henry Museum, Susanna Dickinson Museum, Elisabet Ney Museum, Oakwood Chapel Visitor Center and Montopolis Negro School Security personnel at Brush Square 2 full-time employees along with personnel in contract and program administration, education and outreach, promotional programming, tourism marketing training and tourism advertising for the Parks and Recreation Heritage Tourism Content and digital asset management and tourism marketing at the Austin History Center The Heritage Tourism Division under the city's Parks and Recreation Department helps overseeing tourism programming and funding initiatives to support historic sites and museums in Austin. Funding for these efforts come courtesy the city's special revenue historic preservation fund, which receives 15% of the seven-cent portion of the city's Hotel Occupancy Tax, per council documents. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Austin leaders expected to vote on new short-term rental rules Thursday
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Thursday, Austin city council is expected to work through several proposed changes to how the city regulates short-term rentals (STRs) — think Airbnb or VRBO. The proposed changes include collecting hotel occupancy tax (HOT) and requiring STR companies to provide city permit numbers on public listings. 'For a number of years, we have had short-term rentals that are operating in our city that are unlicensed. We're talking about more than 10,000 STRs running in our city that are not licensed. And so part of this week's action is a huge step forward in getting more of those short-term rentals into compliance, making sure that they are licensed,' Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said. Council members have already proposed some changes to the ordinances and Austin Mayor Kirk Watson expressed concern about moving forward with several proposed items entirely. 'In my view, we are not ready to make some of the key decisions and won't be by Thursday. For me, I want us to be in consistent dialogue with leaders at the Capitol regarding the best approaches to addressing regulation of STRs. Additionally, I would like to see the City moving on licensing improvements and making the cost more in line with peer cities before instituting a new regulatory scheme. And, there are legal concerns that I would like answered,' Mayor Kirk Watson posted on the message board earlier this week. During Tuesday's work session, council discussed bills working through the legislature that may impact the city and a recent lawsuit by Airbnb over New Orleans' short-term rental regulations. 'With those two contexts in mind… we want to ensure that we do what we can in a way that that allows us to move forward, to get more short-term rentals into compliance and licensed,' Fuentes said. There are several short-term rental ordinances city staff are putting before the public and city council Thursday. The city defines a STR as somewhere that is rented out 'for periods of less than 30 consecutive days.' Those proposed changes include: To operate a STR on a property that has three or fewer units, the license holder must be an individual ('corporations would not be allowed to purchase a property under another LLC and then operate it as a short-term rental,' Daniel Word, the assistant director of Austin's Development Services Department, further explained) If that individual wants to operate more than one STR in Austin, those rentals would need to be at least 1,000 feet from each other (in the case of apartments or housing with more than four units, a cap of 25% of the units would be placed) The changes would require platforms to collect the same tax hotels do, called Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) 'One of the elements of the ordinance is that the platforms will require hosts to provide the license number in the advertisement, and will de-list properties that are not licensed upon request from the city,' Word said. The city said existing STRs will be allowed to continue under the new rules as long as the properties are not a nuisance and ownership remains the same. That only covers STRs that are currently permitted with the city. There are roughly 2,200 of those right now, Word said. Austin city council members have already proposed amendments to the changes the city initially brought forward and those will be worked through Thursday. You can read more about those proposed changes here. Earlier this month, the Planning Commission and Austin City Council members heard from members of the short-term rental community, rental hosts and neighbors plagued by nuisance short-term rentals. Austin hears feedback on proposed 'overhaul' of short-term rental regulations 'We need the planning commission and the council to understand that these un-staffed hotels are not appropriate for our neighborhoods and that they bring with them a lot of safety concerns and neighborhood compatibility issues,' said Rose Ballard, one of the speakers. Ballard said there had been several instances of violence, including a shooting, stemming from short-term rentals in her neighborhood. Meanwhile, hosts of short-term rentals also showed up to ask that the rules not overly restrict them, make hosting more expensive, or in the case of Darrell Gest — who said he has operated a permitted STR with his wife since 2014 — he requested more slight changes to the rules, including maintaining privacy for hosts during the listing process. 'For us and our neighborhood, it's a small neighborhood, I believe we're the only STR in there…but the fact that we live in the home and people are coming into our home and staying with us, it reduces a lot of the other problems and concerns that other people may have,' Gest told KXAN. Several representatives from Expedia Group, the parent company for VRBO, were also in attendance or spoke at that meeting. 'We were grateful for the extensive stakeholder engagement the entire [city of Austin] team has done so far throughout this process. VRBO is proud to be headquartered in Austin and along with other Expedia group brands, proud to play a key role in Austin's economy… we encourage responsible short-term rental regulations because a diversity of lodging options is an integral part of any thriving tourism ecosystem,' Jaclyn Terwey, the regional manager of government affairs for Expedia Group, said during Tuesday's meeting. Terwey said the rules Austin have so far drafted are 'clear and without prohibitive barriers for compliance.' Terwey also said the platform is prepared to start collecting Hotel Occupancy Tax, one of the proposed changes, but that they were working with staff to clarify some language in the proposed ordinance. According to Airbnb, a survey of hosts in Austin from late 2023 to late 2024 showed more than 70% used the extra income they got from hosting to cover personal living costs. More than 50% surveyed told Airbnb that the extra cash helped them stay in their home. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
