Austin City Councilmembers Vanessa Fuentes and Ryan Alter say they have reached an agreement with the Austin Hotel Lodging Association that they claim will result in more guaranteed funding to address critical city needs.
Under the proposed Austin Tourism Public Improvement District, or ATPID, hotels will agree to a self-imposed charge on per-night hotel stays, with the additional revenue used to promote tourism and marketing. With this amendment, the ATPID will also guarantee that 20% of those new revenues will be used to reimburse the city for major event expenses and promotion of events at locations used in lieu of the Austin Convention Center. The previous version of the agreement did not include any guaranteed revenue protections, so this ensures stability and predictability during convention center construction.
With the additional revenue being funneled into the city’s General Fund, millions of dollars are expected to be used for homeless services.
