The Hermiston City Council made some changes to how the city’s Transient Room Tax revenue will be distributed to help pay for maintenance to the aquatics center as well as to help with operating costs of the Eastern Oregon Trade & Event Center (EOTEC).
On Monday, the council approved an amendment to the Hermiston City Code dealing with the Transient Room Tax (TRT). By doing some redistribution of TRT revenues, the city will now have a dedicated fund for repairs and maintenance of the Hermiston Family Aquatics Center, which is now about a dozen years old and showing a few signs of aging.
Hermiston Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said the funds will be used for basic maintenance such as purchasing new pumps, motors, tiling, etc. Prior to establishing this new fund, money for repairs to the aquatics center had been coming from the city’s General Fund.
The money will come by fractionally reducing the amount of TRT revenue from other funds such as economic development, and parks and recreation and moving it over to the aquatics center maintenance fund. Based on current numbers, that fund would have generated around $8,600 this year. Morgan, however, noted that the TRT revenues typically grow by about 5- to 10-percent each year. On top of that, the new Holiday Inn and the expansion of the Oak Tree Inn will generate even more TRT revenue for the city.
The TRT is a percentage-based tax paid by travelers staying in hotels and RV parks. The rate for people staying in hotels for short periods is 8 percent of the cost of the room.
On Monday, the council also voted to specifically add EOTEC as eligible to receive TRT revenue to fund operations of that facility. The city is obligated to help cover 50 percent of any operational subsidy which may be needed at the EOTEC, with the county covering the other half. Morgan said this change will create a dedicated revenue source to help meet that obligation, which otherwise would have to come from the General Fund, meaning local property taxes.
The event center portion of EOTEC is set to open next month with an open house set for Friday, May 13 from 3 to 7 p.m. A special presentation will begin at 4:30 p.m.
