Baker County commissioners approve lodging tax money for golf course irrigation system

Published 2:24 pm Thursday, April 4, 2024

The Baker County Board of Commissioners have agreed to transfer $300,000 in lodging tax revenue to Baker City to help replace the irrigation system at Quail Ridge Golf Course.

The Baker City Council last month awarded a $1.35 million bid to a Missouri company to replace the aging, leaky system at the city-owned course.

The county’s Economic Development Committee, an advisory group, voted in March to recommend commissioners approve the $300,000 award to the city.

Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the money during their April 3 meeting.

Commissioner Christina Witham voted no.

Witham pointed out that last year commissioners approved $150,000 in lodging taxes for the golf course project, but because the city wasn’t ready to proceed, the money wasn’t awarded.

“EDC’s recommendation of now giving $300,000, doubling the requested amount in one year from the EDC fund seems excessive and uses almost half of the EDC budget total,” Witham said. “On a positive side, this will open the door to opportunities countywide, for other tourism facilities to submit requests for funding.”

Commission Chairman Shane Alderson, a former city councilor, said he believes some previous council members thought the county hadn’t distributed lodging taxes for city projects as often as it could.

“I think this should make up for some of that as we move forward,” Alderson said.

Jerry Peacock, representing the Economic Development Committee, told commissioners that “we do have funding left to do other projects that we are working on” in addition to the $300,000 for the golf course.

Guests at motels, bed and breakfasts, vacation rental homes, RV parks and other lodging establishments pay the tax, which is 7% of the rental rate.

A county ordinance requires that 70% of the money be spent for tourism promotion, and 25% for economic development.

Lodging tax revenue set a record high the past two fiscal years, including $860,000 in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. This year’s collections could exceed that amount.

A large majority of the revenue is paid by guests at lodging businesses in Baker City.

Other business

Commissioners agreed to accept a $100,310 grant over the next two years to pay for a strategic planner for the Child Advocacy Center through the district attorney’s office.

Commissioners also agreed to apply for a $10,000 Good Neighbor Authority grant.

Witham said the money would pay the BLM to spray weeds along 40 miles of road rights-of-way, mainly along the Snake River.

Commissioners also decided to apply for an $80,000 federal grant to rebuild a fence near Fizz Springs, north of Richland, that cattle have broken through, resulting in manure accumulating near the springs.