Baker County Commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday, June 1 to spend $1.45 million from lodging taxes to lease and ultimately buy a 70-acre parcel east of the Baker Sports Complex.

The county could potentially use the property for a variety of purposes.

The land, owned by the Ward family, is bordered on the north by Hughes Lane, and on other sides by the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway. The land is currently a mint field.

Commissioner Mark Bennett said the county’s Economic Development Council unanimously recommended commissioners pursue a lease-purchase agreement for the property.

Commissioners on Wednesday directed Kim Mosier, the county’s attorney, to work with the Ward family on the agreement.

Tyler Brown, a member of the Economic Development Council, said the Council discussed multiple possible uses for parts of the property, including an indoor sports facility that could potentially ease the pressure on Baker High School’s gym during the Class 1A state basketball tournaments and host other, new sports tournaments, as well as additional parking.

In addition to voting to pursue the property purchase, commissioners said the county will conduct a economic development needs assessment for the community which will include projects, such as structures, for which the 70-acre property could be used.

Commissioner Bruce Nichols said he thinks acquiring the property is “an excellent opportunity” for the county. He noted that the county would not have to pay interest while making lease payments leading to the county acquiring the land.

Commissioners voted to pursue the lease-purchase agreement after discussing the matter during an executive session, which was closed to the public as allowed under Oregon’s Public Meetings Law.

Deliberating about property transactions is one of the topics for which the law allows executive session discussions. The law requires public bodies to make any final decision in a public session, as commissioners did Wednesday.

Bennett and Nichols said none of the money for the property will come from the county’s general fund.

Instead, the county will use dollars from the lodging tax that guests at motels, bed and breakfasts, vacation rental homes and other lodging facilities pay. Baker County’s lodging tax is 7% of the rental rate.

The lodging tax budget has a $400,000 reserve for economic development projects, Bennett said.

The county’s lodging tax revenue has risen substantially over the past two years after dipping to its lowest level in several years during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020.

In April 2020, when many businesses were closed, lodging tax revenue was $8,360, the lowest monthly total in more than 15 years.

The total tax collections for the 2019-20 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2020, was $408,776. That was the lowest annual total since 2013-14, when revenue was $404,462.

Lodging tax collections rose during the 2020-21 fiscal year to $537,860 — a nearly 32% increase.

Revenue has continued to rise during the current fiscal year, and at current rates this year’s revenue will be the highest in at least 2003-4.

For the first eight months of the current fiscal year, revenue was up by 58% compared with the previous year — $508,337 compared with $320,871.

Nichols said he believes one of the best possible uses for the 70-acre parcel is a new location for the Baker County Fairgrounds, which are currently near the center of town, north of Campbell Street.

“There are multiple concepts that could be done with this property,” Nichols said.

In addition to voting to pursue the property purchase, commissioners said the county will conduct a economic development needs assessment for the community and ways in which the 70-acre property could be used to help meet those needs.

In other business related to the lodging tax, commissioners on Wednesday decided to offer a two-year contract to Jessica Hobson, for $65,000 per year, to serve as tourism marketing director for the county.

That money also comes from the lodging tax.

Hobson will replace Timothy Bishop, who left the position in October 2021 to take a similar job in La Grande. Bishop had been the county’s tourism marking director for 11 years.

The county’s transient lodging committee, which advises commissioners, recommended Hobson over two other applicants.

Brown, who is chairman of the lodging tax committee, said he’s glad the county has picked Bishop’s successor.

The county’s current lodging tax ordinance, which dates to 2006, requires that the county spend 70% of the revenue for tourism marketing — which includes the marketing director and operation of a visitors center in Baker City — and 25% for economic development. The county can keep up to 5% for administrative costs.

The Baker County Chamber of Commerce has the contract for operating the visitors center.

Bryan Tweit is the county’s economic development director.