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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Lodging Tax Advisory Committee - 04/24/2017Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes April 24,20L7 Kent, Washington Date: Time: Place: Attending: Approval 6/26/L7 April24, 2017 4 p.m. Centennial North & South Committee & Chair; Bill Boyce, John Casey, David Kwok, Andrew Hutchison, Josh Bang, Andrea Keikkala, Bryan Powell, City Staff & Guests; Ben Wolters, Julie Pulliam, Michelle Wilmot, Ryan Hart, Kevin Tyson, Mike Rabin, David Heldt, Steve Turcotte, Strojan Kennison, Jim Donner Agenda: 1. Welcome & Introductions Done by Chair Boyce 2, Aoproval of the Februarv 27, 2O17 Minutes Andrew Hutchison moved to approve the 2/27/17 minutes and Josh Bang seconded, motion passed, 3. WA USSSA/GSL Request for funds Strojan Kennison presented to the committee a request for $5,000 for the Men's Major Softball Tournament with the sponsorship from Lodging Tax last year the event brought in teams from the 24 states and 3 countries, this year there are 36 states and4 countries entered. There are 24 Men's teams and 72 Women's teams playing 2 events over a 4 day period, and the event has sold out. Teams are required to only lodge in Kent when rooms are available, There is a form we ask the teams to fill out.In Kent the teams are spending approximately $I42 a night for hotels and more dollars are being spent for food at Kent Station by many, The umpire's hotels expenses came to $5,300 at the Best Western last year, We have more staff this year because there are 16 more teams the rooms for staff will be spread around to other hotels also. The entry fees are set it is controlled by the conference and it is $350 entry fee. We can adjust the fee for the teams not in the conference; they are charged a higher rate. All games are played in Kent. Maybe JayRay can do something on the web to encourage more turnout. Andrew Hutchison said this event has been happening for the last 10 years as far as he knows and it is big contributor, they spend money while they are here; at Kent Station and other venues. Motion: Move to approve an ask to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee in the amount of $5,000 for the Washington USSSA and the Derby USSSA Derby Conference, June 22-25, 2017. Andrea Keikkala moved and John Casey seconded motion passed unanimously, 4. USA Softball 16A Girls National Championship Request for funds Mike Rabin made his last request was in 2013 to the Lodging Tax Committee and is back to make a new request for 2QL7 & 2018. The request is for 2018 a year ahead because this event takes 2 years to plan. This is a national tournament and teams will come from all around the country. Page 1 of 4 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes 5. April 24,2OL7 Kent, Washington Approval 6/261L7 Andrew Hutchison stated this is the challenge; it is a weeklong event and during the busy season for Best Western, then HBC is going to send a contract wanting 10o/o commission and a $10 rebate. Mike Rabin will talk to the booking agent about the charges, With those charges it makes it hard for Best Western to be able to work with them, because they want a discount off of posted rates. All these things make it hard for Best Western because to contract with the League it will mean turning away more profitable business, David Kwok agrees with Andrew and the positon the Best Western takes. Mike Rabin wanted to restate this is a big event which will bring a lot of business to the restaurants and other business in Kent, not just the hotels, Chair Boyce would like to confirm that this would be a good thing for Kent and the Kent business; he does understand the Hoteliers positon though, it is the number one focus of the Committee to support events that put heads in beds. All asks may not only benefit the hoteliers to the level of filling all the beds with heads, it could also be good to bring economic business to other business in to Kent. Looking at this event at a whole Boyce feels it would be a good event for Kent. Andrea asked where the opening ceremonies will be held; in 2006 they were at Key arena, Seattle. This year Rabin would like to have it at ShoWare Center, but also looking at Renton. ShoWare has not been asked as of yet, date is, Monday, July 23, 2OIB? One other question was; what does the LTAC money buy? Mike Rabin asked for suggestions from the committee. Ads would be easy, shirts are also an option. The website that houses all the information is also a good tool to get out all information and would be available. Boyce said the Opening Ceremony needs to be in Kent. Rabin said he hasn't looked at all the options yet. With this being so far out in the future, Keikkala would like to see them come back to the LTAC after having the discussion with ShoWare Center and a possible breakdown of what the LTAC will get for the money being asked for, Hutchinson asked if HBC would exempt Kent Hotels from the paying a rebate since the Lodging Tax is where the $20,000 ask is coming from. Rabin would ask for the $1O.OO per room going back to HBC could be deleted. Committee requested Mike Rabin to come back to the next Lodging Tax Meeting on June 26th with more information. Seattle Metro JO Request for funds Jim Donner presented a request for $5,000 for temporary fencing that needs to be put up each morning. It is $220.00 per complex, each set up, Last year we used the fields 24 times, Season is through the end of July. August is tryouts for next year, Last game is end of September for Kent. There were 1000 teams that attended the tournaments last year. The youth players that are coming from out of town will also be staying in hotels, They will be at the field 6-8 hours then they love to go eat around Kent, and back to theirs hotels then they do it all over the next day. People love to come to Kent because of the quality of fields are so good they play on. Page 2 of 4 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes 7 April24,20t7 Kent, Washington 6 Approval 6/26/17 We can put up a permanent banner for VisitKent.com to be visible all season without a problem at the fields. Chair Boyce asked to provide feedback to the committee and do a report on the tournament after the season is done. Motion: Move to approve an ask to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee in the amount of $5,000 for the Seattle Metro JO Tournament, John Casey moved and Josh Bang seconded, motion passed. ShoWare ShootOut Request for funds Steve Turcotte presented a request for $5,000 for basketball shootouts at ShoWare Center. 3 on 3 got this all started 9 years ago and the events have just kept growing. There were 14Q-150 teams last year. Teams have started to sign up already and the event is not till July. We are pushing for more out of town teams to come in July. At the High School events6 out of 16 teams were from out of town and spent multiple nights in Kent last January. This year there are at least 9 teams coming from out of town? Of course we are still having all the local teams coming to play. We have a scheduled an event at ShoWare for the Division I college where the University of Montana team coming, December 10th. All the events always have VisitKent Banners and the name in the programs. Motion: Move to approve an ask to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee in the amount of $5,000 to Game Time Events to assist in putting on ShoWare ShootOut, ShoWare ShootOut High School Basketball Showcase, King Showcase, Kent ShootOut, and Seattle U College Showcase. Josh Bang moved and John Casey seconded motion passed. Hotelier - Marketing Activities Hutchison wanted to put this out to the Committee to maybe continue the conversation at the next LTAC meeting. As the Committee knows we have funds in the savings. The topic came up we don't have someone to be an advocate to bring events to Kent. Hutchison listed off the venues in Kent; Service club Ball Fields, Hogan Park, showare, High schools, GRCC, Highline CC. This person would advocate and try to get events to come to these venues. This is the one thing we are missing from the old Seattle Southside contract, someone that is chasing down the business and getting them to bring their business/event to Kent. John Casey asked if Hutchison was talking about the LTAC funding a part-time consultant. Hutchison said yes and the person that comes to mind is Mylee Anderson. She has hotel, tourism, and destination marketing experience that is the kind of person the hoteliers are looking for. Wolters stated you have SMG pushing ShoWare; the City has an Arts & Events Coordinator that is all working to bring events to Kent. Wilmot said the City is Page 3 of 4 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes April24,20L7 Kent, Washington Approval 6/26/L7 always promoting to bring events to Kent. One thing we are missing is all the event spaces in Kent listed somewhere people can find. This will be something we ask JayRay to put together on our new site. This topic will come back to Committee at a future date. Josh Bang This is Josh Bangs last meeting. Next Meeting June 26, 20L7 Meeting adjourned 5:23 p.m. Submitted ulli am, LTAC Secretary Page 4 of 4