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Jewell said informal discussions with fellow commissioners on Jan. 6 yielded support to increase from 2 to 4 percent the fee on rentals paid for hotel, motel and other lodgings in the non-city areas of the county.
State law allows cities and counties to collect the fee, sometimes called the lodging tax, and use the funds to support nonprofit groups, public events and facilities that attract and serve tourists.
The county has taken in about $50,000 a year in lodging tax revenue, but last year it went up to about $140,000. It's believed rental of Suncadia resort rooms and condos boosted the amount.
"With added funding coming in, I think we can develop a countywide, comprehensive marketing plan that showcases what visitors can do in our county and, in the long run, create more tourist business and local jobs," Jewell said.
He said Ellensburg, Roslyn and South Cle Elum have opted for a 4 percent lodging tax, and having the county go to that level could also be seen as "a parity issue" to make the county fee on room rentals the same as surrounding cities.
Research is now under way to determine if a vote of the people is needed to increase the county lodging tax or whether commissioners can do it themselves after a public hearing.
Jewell's idea on establishing a wind-power royalty payment program, discussed in a separate meeting on Jan. 5, is on hold pending more research. The concept was a possible fee on electricity produced by wind farms in the county.
Jewell said county deputy prosecutor Neil Caulkins told commissioners the county has no legal authority to regulate or tax interstate commerce since it's likely that some of the power from local wind farms is sold to entities in other states and crosses state lines.
"There wasn't any encouragement on a royalty program based on power production," Jewell said.
He said there was the possibility that fees on wind farms could be made part of mitigation in proposed development agreements for new projects, but much more research is needed to explore the legal options available.
Commission Chairman Alan Crankovich said there was merit into looking into Jewell's royalty fee idea, yet he acknowledged that wind-power was much different than oil or natural gas-based royalty programs.
"I appreciate (Jewell's) position," Crankovich said, "but it's my observation that no one owns the wind."
Puget Sound Energy officials, when contacted about a possible royalty program, said any additional costs to wind farm development is passed on to power customers.
PSE operates the 127-turbine Wild Horse Wind Power Project east of Ellensburg.
PSE officials added they hope county officials, if and when they consider a royalty payment program or other additional fees, recognize the contribution the Wild Horse wind farm already contributes to county government revenue and the local economy. Namely from $1 million in property tax revenues per year, attracting nearly 18,000 visitors to the site in 2008 and creating jobs.
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