The future of Arlington’s tourism agency is in doubt after Virginia lawmakers in Richmond cut off its funding source. The House of Delegates voted 54-42 to defeat legislation that would have renewed a 0.25 percent hotel surcharge tax the county collects to fund the Arlington Convention and Visitors Service. Arlington collected about $1.1 million in revenue in fiscal 2011 that went directly to the tourism program.
The county is now faced with a choice of raising taxes — possibly on real estate — to replace the missing funds or cutting back the operations of the visitors center or other county services, said Arlington board member Barbara Favola.
The program helps promote the county as a tourism destination through outreach efforts such as the Mobile Visitors Center, a small electric vehicle deployed near Arlington Metro stations directing tourists to local businesses.
The county, home of such major tourist attractions as Arlington National Cemetery and the Iwo Jima memorial, generated $78 million in tourism tax revenue for the state in 2010, according to officials. The county also benefits from its proximity to the District.
A legislative provision required the General Assembly to renew the hotel tax every three years since 1991. Fairfax Del. Tim Hugo and other House Republicans have received much of the credit for defeating the bill after Hugo first blocked the legislation in a House of Delegates subcommittee in January.
Hugo had criticized Arlington for its lawsuit challenging the construction of high occupancy tolls, or HOT lanes, on Interstate 95/395. Hugo was particularly upset that the county sued state transportation officials by name, said George Faatz, his legislative assistant.
“Obviously, Arlington has an abundance of money if they can be engaged in egregious lawsuits against private individuals,” Hugo said at the time.
Arlington dropped the case before a final House of Delegates vote after the Virginia Department of Transportation gave up on plans for the Arlington toll lanes. Favola downplayed the lawsuit’s effect on Arlington’s top legislative priorities, noting that it has always been difficult to get enough legislature votes to approve a tax simply because legislators “don’t like voting for taxes,” she said.
“We knew we were going to have trouble,” Favola said. “I can honestly tell you it would not have mattered if the HOT lanes lawsuit had been in play or not.”
Most of the funds from the hotel tax came from out-of-state taxpayers visiting the county, Favola said. Now Arlington residents may be on the hook for replacing about $1 million in funding needed for the program.
