Tourism could rebound in Albany this summer if recent trends continue, new tax reports on hotel occupancy suggest.

Albany’s manager of economic development, Seth Sherry, shared his thoughts on the prospect with the Temporary Housing Tax Advisory Committee on Tuesday, February 1.

Tourism is an important part of the city’s balance sheet, as the city charges a fee each time someone stays in a hotel or Airbnb for the night.

Climb up again

Between July and November last year, the city raked in about $586,000 in lodging tax revenue, about 75% of pre-pandemic revenue, Sherry reported. He hopes that the upswing will continue in the summer.

“It’s very encouraging to see that people are active and out and revenue has been higher, at least in the first quarter,” said Sherry.

Albany’s leisure and hospitality industry, a major exporter of grass seed, employed 3,088 people in 2019, or more than one in 10 workers, according to the Oregon Employment Department.

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From 2011 to 2019, the city’s lodging tax revenue increased by an average of 8% per year. But by June 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, revenue plunged more than 25% below 2017 levels.

Temporary accommodation taxes are collected quarterly by providers ranging from hotels to Airbnbs at the state, county and local level. The state lodging tax rate is 1.5%, 3% in Linn County and 9% in Albany.

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promotional tourism

Proceeds go to tourist promotion programs sponsored by the local government, which cover advertising and grant costs.

That money is the lifeblood of local agencies like that Albany’s Visitors Association’s job is to bring in tourists. The agency not only writes Albany’s official travel guides online and in print, but also helps sell the city to travelers, Executive Director Rebecca Bond said.

“We’re trying to give them an incentive to go anywhere and stay longer,” Bond said. “If we can tell them about McDowell Creek Falls or the Willamette National Forest in Sweet Home, it helps encourage people to explore the great outdoors year-round.”

Since June, Albany reported $807,799 in lodging tax revenue, up 3.9% from 2020 numbers and 9% below 2019 levels.

Sherry told the Temporary Lodging Committee Tuesday that the city council may have less money to spend on programs than it might hope.

“There are charges or revenue commitments well beyond the first quarter,” Sherry said. “So it’s not like there’s just extra money sitting around.”

Sherry said Albany City Council should prop up its lodging tax reserves, which have been devastated by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The committee decided to recommend that the city restore reserves to pre-pandemic levels of $100,000.

Federal data shows 745 Albany businesses have received more than $61 million in loans through the Paycheck Protection Program to date. However, less than $250,000 of that money went to hotels, according to federal databases.

Based on (s) opinion

Aside from the meeting, Renee Hoskins, who runs Studio 6 Suites in Albany with her husband, said the city should put more lodging tax dollars into the kind of marketing campaigns she sees in Oregon’s winelands like Marion County.

“I think more publicity is more important than anything,” Hoskins said. “The thing about the service industry is that you depend on the public more than anyone.”

Hoskins has run the Albany extended-stay motel for the past three years since she and her husband, who live in Wilsonville, entered the industry. She said her biggest problem now is finding workers, not taxes.

“I post ads on Facebook and Craigslist and nobody responds,” Hoskins said. “Money is always tight, but the problem now is that nobody wants to work.”

Pam Silbernagel, a member of the Advisory Committee on Temporary Lodging Taxes, on Tuesday shared her peers’ optimism that the upbeat tax numbers for lodging taxes could reshape the next budget debate at City Hall.

“I think these numbers show us that we’re back to normal,” said Silbernagel. “And I think that changes our conversation about the budget.”

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Members of the Temporary Accommodation Tax Advisory Committee said Tuesday they expect to hold their next meeting this summer.

Tim Gruver covers the city of Albany and Linn County. He can be contacted at 541-812-6114 or Tim.Gruver@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @T_TimeForce.