Travis County and city of Austin leaders could collaborate on a joint venue tax district which would finance a number of community and sports venue projects throughout the county.

Travis County is authorized to levy a venue tax, an optional additional hotel occupancy tax, of no more than 2 percent. The revenue may be used to finance specific tourism-related projects that have been approved through a voter referendum. The proposed 2 percent venue tax would generate between $15 million-20 million in revenue annually.

Diana Ramirez, director of Economic Development and Strategic Investments with the county's Planning and Budget Office Department, updated the commissioners court on the progress of the program during the commissioners' Tues., June 27 meeting.

A presentation made by Ramirez in May about the benefits of a joint venue district prompted the county to begin researching the possibility of a venue tax. Judge Sarah Eckhardt sent a letter May 18 to Mayor Steve Adler proposing a city-county partnership, to which he replied the city was interested in pursuing the concept. Eckhardt and county staff met with Adler May 24 to discuss the proposed district, although no commitments were made at that time, Ramirez said.

“It is our understanding that the City Council is waiting to hear from the visitor impact task force,” Ramirez said. “The report won’t make its way to the council until August when everyone gets back from break and staff begins working on the budget.”

Ramirez said the county is still working with the city to figure out when they should meet next.

“It will most likely be in the near future,” Ramirez said. “We will have to wait until city staff hears back from their boss. Until then we will continue to approach them and keep it in their minds.”

Next steps

The commissioners agreed about the need for an equity analysis, financial analysis and community engagement.

An equity analysis will evaluate economic equity in the county to ensure all areas have access to goods and resources. Ramirez recommended performing an equity analysis not just for the venue tax but for economic development as a whole. The county does have an economic development strategy already in place but this would help them fill the gaps and address economic equity throughout the county, she said.

Commissioner Jeff Travillion who precinct includes East Austin agreed and felt the need for an equity analysis was crucial to help better understand the needs of the community.

“The equity analysis is probably central to what we have to do because I think we need to engage the community, but I think we need to have priorities in line when we do,” Travillion said. “I think the equity analysis will help us get there.”

A financial analysis will estimate potential revenue to be derived from a venue tax, Ramirez said. The county will have to outsource this task to its financial advisor, PFM, at a cost of no more than $18,000.

“I think we need a financial analysis and modeling of the revenue we can expect to see from a venue tax and that will help us to understand the types of projects we can roll out under a venue tax,” Ramirez said. “We’ve never done that before and we don’t have the capacity to do that but our financial advisor does.”

Commissioners approved the financial analysis expenditure but directed the Planning and Budget staff to identify a funding source. Ramirez and her staff will return to Commissioners Court for approval once a source is identified. Eckhardt will also send a followup letter to Adler concerning the topic.