AGENDA #3a(1)

 

 

 

To:  Mayor & Each Town Council Member

Cc:  Cal Horton

 

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board of Directors requests that the Town Council of Chapel Hill reconsider its decision to reduce the Town of Chapel Hill grant to the Visitors Bureau for FY 2004-2005. 

 

Room tax collections have grown by almost 46% since the Visitors Bureau was formed in 1992.  The total amount of tax collected through FY 2002-2003 was $4,924,779.  From that total, 85%, or $4,186,062.15, has gone into the Town’s general fund.  The Visitors Bureau received 15%, or $738,716.85, for visitor promotion.  The following statistics document FY 2001-2002 room tax collections and its economic impact for the investment that Chapel Hill is making to bring visitors to the community: 

 

·        Room tax collected by Town of Chapel Hill:  $589,992 (Tax Research Division, NC Department of Revenue)

·        Amount provided for visitor promotion:  $88,499 (Tax Research Division, NC Department of Revenue)

·        State and local tax revenues from travel to Orange County:  $8.96 million (representing a $73 tax savings to each county resident)  (NC Department of Commerce)

·        Visitor spending in Orange County:  $111 million dollars (NC Department of Commerce)

 

In other words, for every dollar of Chapel Hill Room Tax spent by the Visitors Bureau, $1,254.25 goes back into the local economy.

 

As you know, hotels contribute to the viability of the local economy in other ways as well.  Last year, Chapel Hill hotels paid over $540,000 in property taxes.  Travel and tourism employed more than 1700 people, including those employed with hotels, and generated a payroll in excess of $25,000,000.

 

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau is about to embark upon a marketing relationship with the NCHSAA and commence new promotional efforts that will incorporate the restaurant and retail segments of the business community.  A reduction of $20,000 in the grant to the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau will be a 23% decrease in available funds from the Town.

 

We urge you to continue your full investment of 15 percent of room tax collections in the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau.  There is no other organization that provides this type of return on the investment to the community. Thank you for your consideration.