A bill for an ordinance creating and establishing the Denver Tourism Improvement District, appointing the initial members of the Board of Directors of the District, and approving the Initial Plan and preliminary 2018 budget therefore. Creates and establishes the citywide Denver Tourism Improvement District (TID), appoints the initial members of the board of directors, and approves the initial operating plan and preliminary budget. The Committee approved filing this bill at its meeting on 8-9-17.
Direct your comments to council as a whole and refrain from individual or personal attacks. Councilwoman Black, will you please put Council Bill eight three on the floor? Thank you. Mr. President, I move that council bill eight three be placed upon final consideration and do pass. It has been moved. Can I get a second? Thank you has been moved and seconded the public hearing for council bill 883 is open. May we have the staff report? Good evening, Mr. President. Members of council. I'm Brad Dodson with. The Department of Finance. Council Bill 883 is for an ordinance to approve the creation. Of the Denver. Tourism Improvement District upon receipt of a petition signed by approximately 50% of the lodging businesses who will ultimately be in the district. The petition complies with the requirements of a Tourism Improvement District Enabling Ordinance and has been signed by more than 30% of lodging businesses as required. The boundaries of the district. Will. Be coterminous with the boundaries of the city and county of Denver and include any lodging business that offers 50 or more rooms at that location. The Denver Tide's primary focus will be to foster economic development by providing enhanced tourism related facilities and services, and the support will include marketing and promotional services designed to attract more tourists, visitors , conventions and other meetings to the city, as well as an annual contribution of funds for the expansion of the Colorado Convention Center and ongoing capital improvements. The Tide's initial annual budget for programs and services is estimated to be $8.7 million, and the district's revenue will be raised by adding a 1% tourism improvement tax to the guest portfolio of district hotels. The initial board of directors shall consist of seven members appointed by the mayor and confirmed by City Council through the Creation Ordinance presented. Proposed board members are in attendance tonight as our Richard Schaaf and Amy Mayhew, who are representing the petitioners as part of the organization process. The petitioners provided information on the proposed district by engaging hoteliers through in-person meetings and written correspondence and several news articles on the TID. Organizing efforts have been published by local media over the past few months. The operating plan for the Denver TID meets the requirements of Chapter 20, Article 13 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code. It is further submitted that the types of services and improvements to be provided by the proposed district are those services and improvements which best satisfy the purposes outlined in the code. City Council approval of the tides creation will permit the district to hold an election on the proposed 1% tax, and proponents of the district are planning to hold this required election this November. Based on the information presented, the Department of Finance recommends approval of the creation of the Denver Tourism Improvement District, its initial operating plan and budget, and the initial members of the Board of directors. And with that, Richard, Amy, myself are available to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. We have three individuals signed up to speak this evening. I'll call all three. Looks like maybe, Brad, if you could leave a little bit of room right there, we could have one at the microphone and two on the on the seat with you there so that we can get through everybody. So our three speakers are Alan Patty, Chairman, say COO and Tony Dunn. And Allen. Paddy Allen. You're you're up first. Thank you. Good evening, President Clark and members of the city council. I am Alan Petty, general manager of two Doubletree Hotel Properties located in Stapleton. I'm here tonight on behalf of Visit Denver's Board of Directors to urge your final approval for the creation of the Denver Tourism Improvement District. Visit Denver along with the Metro Denver Lodging Council and the city and County of Denver have collaborated to develop an innovative funding opportunity that will benefit the city, the community and our partners. The TID will raise the remaining funds necessary to achieve the full vision for the expansion of the Colorado Convention Center and Fund Future Center improvements. In addition, the TIDE will support marketing efforts for convention and leisure visitors to ensure Denver's tourism industry remains strong and vibrant. This marketing fund will be overseen by a tidy governing board, of which I am proud to be a member. I'm joined here tonight by fellow TID Board members NAV and Demand and Building and Evergy as a demonstration of our citywide hotel industry support for this initiative. Visit Denver greatly appreciates the city's ongoing commitment to the tourism industry and recognition of the importance of the Colorado Convention Center to our local economy. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next up, Chairman Group. Excuse me. Yes. My name is Chairman Sekou and. I am the organizing founder for the Black Star Action Movement for Self-defense. We stand in support of this bill. Primarily for the interests of poor working, poor, homeless and senior citizens, that it provides an opportunity for us to participate in a thriving and vibrant economy, which means jobs for the poor. Which means economic opportunities for the poor so that they're not poor no more, and that they receive equitable treatment in the hiring practices of the city. Tourism is one of the elements of economic development for any city that seeks to rise above the throes of poverty and allows poor people an opportunity to get in at the bottom floor so that one day we can honestly see that not only are we participating in jobs, but we also become owners of hotels and receive some of the economic benefits that can be distributed among our people. And so without further ado, I yield my time so that we can get on with really why we here. Thank you. Thank you. Last up, we have Tony. Tony. Getting President. Clark. Members of council. I'm Tony Dunne, general manager sheraton downtown Denver. Also chairman of the. Metro Denver Lodging Council. I'm here today on behalf of the MDL See Board of Directors to thank you for your leadership on this issue and ask you for your support in creating the Tourism Improvement District that's before you this evening. Over the past three years, AMDOCS Board of Directors has explored a variety of ways to bring additional marketing dollars to the city. We're pleased that those efforts have resulted in a district that has over 50% of electors have already signed on to. In addition to the marketing dollars, we are committed to the Colorado Convention Centers long term success and are pleased that dollars from this fund will ensure the competitiveness from years to come. Again, we thank you for your support of this tourism improvement district and your efforts to help make Denver a world class destination for tourism. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have at this time. Thank you very much. All right, that concludes our speakers. Are there questions from members of council? All right. The public hearing for Council Bill 883 has closed comments from members of Council. Councilwoman Ortega. Thank you, Mr. President. First, I want to speak in support of this moving forward. I think this is an appropriate way to fund the improvements of the convention center by adding the additional dollars to the hotels that are 50 rooms and above as a way to, you know, kind of have everybody play play in that plays in that arena, too, to be part of that solution. So I appreciate the fact that all of the hotels that are 50 and above that have signed on to this are willing to to do that, to make those improvements happen. Because when we fill our convention center, it fills hotel rooms and it benefits everybody in in the Denver hotel area, whether they're downtown or out at Stapleton or out at the tech center. When we have big conventions, all of our hotel rooms are filled. The other thing I think is important to mention is that for the kinds of jobs that are in the hotels, a lot of them are service industry jobs. But it's the one industry where you can start at the bottom and move your way up because they really support promoting from within. And it is one place where you can start as a janitor or you can start as somebody that's cleaning a room. You can start in a restaurant in any of our hotels, and years later, you can be the manager of that hotel. And so I think this this what this really is, you know, one of those jobs that that has some. Career path to it that. You know, creates that opportunity for people in our community who are looking for the ability to earn their income and to change their their living status. So I just want to encourage my colleagues to support this moving forward. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Ortega. Councilman New will visit the creative center. Obviously a real economic engine for our whole downtown. And we're so lucky to have Richard Sheriff and his whole team leading the development of the the new convention center expansion. That's going to bring so much in terms of what my colleagues are saying in jobs, but also it's just going to be a great enhancement to visitors who come to Denver and enjoy our city and be able to to have a more attractive convention center, an expanded center for four larger shows, and just a real asset to our city. So I just really look forward to supporting this. And Echo, my councilwoman were taking a few comments about supporting this movement. My colleagues, thank you very much. Thank you, Councilman. Do any other comments? I'll just add that I'm excited to support this tonight. I want to thank everybody who put the effort into creating our first ever ID in the city. I'm excited to see this go to the ballot and also just want to in addition to what my colleagues have said, Echo, it wasn't mentioned here tonight, but we talked about it in committee and visit. Denver has said it before, but that tourism drives down taxes for Denver residents, for Denver citizens, to the tune of about four $500 a year less that Denver residents have to pay in taxes to have the city services that we have. And so initiatives like this are continuing to build on our tourism industry and support not just our visitor community, but every citizen across Denver. And so with that, I'll be happy to support tonight. Madam Secretary, roll call. Black I. Espinosa. I. Flynn. I. Gilmore. I. Herndon. Cashman. Carnage. Lopez. I knew. Ortega. Mr. President. All right. Secretary, please close voting and announce the results tonight. Tonight's counsel Bill 883 has passed. Congratulations. And now. Councilwoman Black, will you please put Council Bill 755 on the floor?