Public Hearing Set on Planned Temecula Valley Wine Country Tourism District

TEMECULA, CA – Riverside County supervisors this week scheduled a Sept. 13 public hearing to take testimony for and against the proposed Temecula Valley Wine Country Marketing District, which would require hoteliers to pay fees to promote the area.

The marketing district, analogous to a business improvement district under state law, was conceived by the nonprofit Visit Temecula Valley and received tentative support from the Board of Supervisors on July 26.

Under the proposal, all lodge proprietors within the boundaries of county-designated wine country -- currently 31 -- would be required to set aside 2 percent of gross receipts from overnight stays and dedicate that revenue to the marking district for promotions that elevate the Temecula Valley Wine Country's profile.

Funds would be procured on a quarterly basis by the county Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector.

"Tourism marketing districts utilize the efficiencies of private sector operation in the market-based promotion of tourism," according to an Economic Development Agency statement. "These special assessment districts allow lodging and tourism-related business owners to organize their efforts to increase tourism."

It's estimated the district would generate roughly $188,000 annually.

When the county established the Palm Springs Desert Resort Communities Tourism Business Improvement District in 2008, not every lodge proprietor was in favor. Several operators complained that they were being placed at a competitive disadvantage because people visiting the area could search the Internet for locations where so-called "transient occupancy taxes" didn't apply.

The proposed wine country marketing district will be the subject of at least one additional board hearing after the Sept. 13 meeting, depending on what happens then.

– By City News Service / Image via Shutterstock.