LAKE COUNTY>> At its meeting on June 19, the Lake County Board of Supervisors adopted, by a 4-0 vote, a resolution declaring their intent to establish the Lake County Tourism Improvement District and followed up with the adoption of a resolution requesting consent of the city councils of Lakeport and Clearlake to establish the TID.
Rachel Taylor with Civitas Advisors gave the board an update on the legal process of forming the district which has been in the works since November.
“Today is one of the key steps in this process, the resolution of intention,” she said. “It is where we come forward and say we intend to form this district, here’s our evidence of support.”
Taylor said in order to have a hearing, the consultants gathered petitions in favor of the district signed by hotel and logging owners in all of Lake County including Clearlake and Lakeport.
She said their favor is weighted by how much they would be paying to the district, with a 50 percent necessary. As of June 19 they had gathered 58.6 percent.
According to Taylor, a notice from the County will be mailed out to every single lodging owner that they have data for and would be paying the assessment and they then have 45 days to protest or say that they are in favor of it.
In addition, a public meeting on July 24 will give the supervisors a chance to listen to any opposition or support for the TID. On Aug. 7, there will be a resolution of formation up for approval. In the interim, the consultants will be going to each of the cities to their city councils. Taylor said the board will be hearing resolutions requesting consent from the two cities following resolutions granting consent at their respective July meetings.
Lisa Wilson, general manager of Clearlake Campground said she signed the petition in favor of the TID.
“Lake County has a great story to tell,” she said, “This assessment will give the storytelling power and responsibility to the hoteliers.”
She added that after considering a range of percentages, the steering committee of which she is a part of, determined that a three percent rate is a significant amount of money which keeps the county competitive with neighboring counties like Mendocino and Napa both of which respectively have 11 percent and 14 percent Transient Occupancy tax rates and TID rates combined.
Greg Folsom, Clearlake City Manager, said he previously worked at jurisdictions which already have TIDs in place, adding that they are very important.
He said Lake County is competing against these jurisdictions where they are using this money to foster tourism.
“We really need to get on the ball and get going and try and do a better job of attracting tourists to come to our area,” he said. “I think this is one excellent tool to be able to do that.”
Taylor said one of the things they noticed when going around the area trying to gather support for the proposal was a lack of connectivity and communication between all of the lodging areas an all of the different jurisdictions throughout the county.
“This will kind of solve that problem as well, it’s going to be one voice and it will provide advocacy for tourism to this area,” said Taylor.
The consultant indicated the tourism district will be a five-year term at the end of which they will come back and ask for it to be renewed. Taylor said one of the most compelling aspects about a TID is that it creates a heavy foothold in the area on tourism and can then be used to figure out what is needed to further drive traffic to an area.
First District Supervisor Moke Simon said he was excited about the program which will allow the county to show what they have to offer, allowing the county to “target market” people who want to see what Lake County has to offer while also allowing various groups to work together in combination to understand everything going on during the summer and throughout the year.
“I’m excited about it,” he said. “We want to get moving forward and keep this thing going.”
Third District Supervisor Jim Steele said there is a large national monument in his district just waiting to be discovered by people in the city.
