Lane County tourism leaders oppose shifting lodging-tax reserves to public safety
Lane County wants to move $6.5 million from visitor-tax reserves to public safety, setting up a fight over who should benefit from tourism money.
Lane County tourism leaders are pushing back after budget officials proposed moving $6.5 million from transient lodging tax reserves into public safety spending, turning a budget fight into a broader debate over who should benefit from money collected from overnight visitors. The reserves were built after the county raised its lodging tax by 2 percent in 2022, with the increase taking effect Jan. 1, 2023, and county leaders originally tied that revenue to tourism-related investments, including an indoor sports complex.
The Lane County Budget Committee is set to meet in Harris Hall to take public comment on the budget plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Travel Lane County says visitor spending generates $1 billion a year in Lane County, and the organization plans to testify against the proposed transfer. Travel Lane County President Samara Phelps has said the transient lodging tax investment is important to the visitor economy, while Florence Area Chamber of Commerce President Bettina Hannigan has pointed to Florence’s heavy dependence on tourism, especially during the winter months when business is toughest and hours can be cut back.
The proposed shift lands in the middle of a long-running dispute over what the lodging-tax dollars were supposed to build. In 2023, county commissioners unanimously approved the tax increase with the idea that it could support tourism facilities, and one report at the time pegged a new sports venue at $50 million to $60 million. Another 2023 estimate said the county expected nearly $35 million from the lodging-tax increase for a Eugene Emeralds stadium project at the Lane Events Center fairgrounds. Later, Travel Lane County continued to press for an indoor multi-use facility with at least eight basketball courts that could convert to 16 volleyball courts, arguing that winter occupancy from November through February drops below 50 percent.
That history now hangs over the county’s latest budget move. In January, Lane County was already considering helping pay for research into an indoor sports facility after voters rejected the 2024 ballot measure needed for the Emeralds stadium project. Tourism advocates say pulling $6.5 million from the reserve would undercut confidence that visitor-generated tax money will stay focused on tourism, fairgrounds planning, and the kind of projects that bring teams, families, and out-of-town spending to Eugene, Springfield, Florence, Cottage Grove, and the rest of Lane County. For budget leaders, the argument is simpler: public safety needs are immediate, and the county wants to use tourism reserves to help meet them without waiting for a new tax.
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