NAMPA, Idaho — Nampa voters approved the creation of an auditorium district at the November election. Next steps include notifying the tax commission and hotel guests staying within the auditorium district boundaries will soon see a 5% tax on their room bill.
- Tax income will be used for improvements to the Ford Idaho Center and Nampa Civic Center.
- If your room costs $100, you would see a five-dollar added fee.
- You can see all members of the auditorium district board at nampaauditoriumdistrict.com.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Over a decade in the making, Nampa will soon see an "Auditorium District," which will allocate a new tax on hotel rooms to cover upgrades and renovations at the Ford Idaho Center and Nampa Civic Center. The ballot measure is projected to pass after receiving support from about 62% of voters — more than 12,000 votes.
"I think it's very critical," says Nampa Auditorium District Chairman Jeff Agenbroad. "It takes a tax burden off of Nampa taxpayers who are footing the entire bill of the renovations, the improvements, the expansions at both the Civic Center and the Ford Idaho Center."
"What's next, after the vote being number one, what's next?" I ask of Agenbroad.
"What's next is the board will convene for the first time. They need to establish their bylaws and how they'll operate but really, one of the first things that needs to be done by that board is to notify the tax commission," he says.
Funding for improvements to the entertainment venues will now come from a bed tax on district hotels. Every hotel room within this district will see a new 5% tax that will go directly back to improvements on the Idaho and Civic Centers. So if your room costs $100, you would see a five-dollar added fee.
I asked, "How does that information get passed to the hotels to know that now they need to perhaps surcharge or have that in their billing statements?"
"Well, it's really important to know that the hotels are in favor of this," Agenbroad said. "They understand that although it is an additional tax that they will have to collect on top of the taxes they are collecting, it really drives the tourism and ultimately benefits them."
General manager of nearby Hampton Inn, Erica Hernandez, is among the board members elected simultaneously with the auditorium district itself. The board is only accountable to the people who elected them; the relationship with city council is also critical.
Agenbroad adds, "Because the city owns both facilities, the auditorium district cannot do anything with either auditorium without the city's approval, because they are the owners. So they'll work with the city to determine what expansions and enhancements that the city recommends, and maybe what priority. "
