North Bay City Councillors will take a harder look at a policy plan for the allocation and use of the city’s share of the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) during its 2021 budget process.
See: Hotel tax yields nearly $1 million in 2019
The idea of implementing a four per cent accommodation tax was initially presented to city council in 2018, with council entering into an agreement with Tourism North Bay.
The tax went into effect on February 1, 2019.
Nearly $1 million was collected in its first year.
The money was split 60/40 between Tourism North Bay and the city, with Tourism North Bay receiving the lion's share.
At its regular meeting Tuesday night, council discussed a staff prepared MAT policy to establish the framework and outline requirements for the allocation and use of the city’s share of the tax.
Councillor Bill Vrebosch said the primary focus of the policy is investing in tourism-related infrastructure, including trails, community centres, and waterfront development.
He further said the policy provides an opportunity for private tourism-related organizations to approach Tourism North Bay with projects and programs to enhance tourism.
“This grant application process will be managed by Tourism North Bay and council will set aside the funds through the annual budget process,” explained Vrebosch.
In supporting the motion, Councillor Chris Mayne asked if council would have access to Tourism North Bay’s budget.
“Assuming that the Tourism North Bay budget is public, will we be receiving a copy of their budget, basically how are they spending the money on an annual basis?” Mayne asked.
“It is always being monitored,” Vrebosch answered.
“I would imagine any request for a budget update would be easily available. I think they have been very responsible up to this point, and I think this will continue. But I think this is great for the city. It shows good investment for us and I like the process we’re using right now.”
Agreeing with Councillor Mayne, Councillor Mark King wants more information on expenditures.
“Mr. Dreany (Tourism North Bay executive director Steve Dreany) is due to come back to council with a presentation to indicate the expenditures and how the money was spent. I think we all need to understand how that is being done,” said King.
When it comes to allocating the money, City Councillor Scott Robertson said emphasis needs to placed on city-owned infrastructure.
“The policy outlined criteria that we are going to be using when we release money from this reserve account during budget time and should we decide to make council resolutions in terms of how to spend this money,” said Robertson.
“The criteria talks about three things; tourism-related infrastructure projects, finance new projects or improve venue capacity and sustainability in order to strengthen the city’s ability to attract major tourism-related events. To me, those refer to public city-owned infrastructure. The final one is to leverage private sector and government capital investment to support initiatives that encourage tourism infrastructure development. So that criteria is geared towards partnering with Tourism North Bay.”
Councillor Dave Mendicino stressed the importance of working with groups to develop North Bay’s tourism infrastructure.
“The other entity we can’t forget about is the third-party non-for-profit private entities that work on a volunteer basis and drive tourism to the region. This is a work in progress.”
Tourism North Bay executive director Steve Dreany will make a presentation to council at its September 1st meeting.
