Bend residents will be asked on the November ballot to approve increasing the city’s lodging tax — paid on hotel and motel rooms and other short-term rentals — by 1¼ percent over the next two years. They should do so.

Bend’s transient room tax currently stands at 9 percent, and the state of Oregon tacks on another 1 percent. The state’s portion would not change if Measure 9-94 is approved, but the city’s portion would rise to 10 percent beginning July 1, 2014, and to 10.4 percent the following year. The city would keep 30 percent of additional revenues for its general fund to support its police and fire departments.

The remainder of the money would go to Visit Bend to promote tourism. The agency plans to use about two-thirds of what’s collected, $300,000 annually, to expand its marketing efforts to Northern California and the Seattle area. Another $150,000 annually would go to a cultural tourism fund that would provide a steady stream of revenue for local arts programs dedicated to attracting tourism.

Visit Bend already spends some $1.4 million promoting tourism. For the 2014 budget, it breaks down as $512,000 on personnel, $758,000 on marketing and $148,000 on overhead.

Visit Bend’s goal is admirable, and if it’s achieved, well worth the money.

Central Oregon, Bend included, always has had trouble evening out the dollars it receives from visitors. The vast bulk come in the summertime, while winter months draw a smaller crowd, Mt. Bachelor notwithstanding. Even fewer visitors choose the area during the so-called shoulder seasons, fall and spring. Visit Bend hopes to increase visits specifically in those nonsummer months.

If the strategy is successful, Bend will benefit, no doubt about it. A healthier wintertime economy has long been a goal of anyone interested in the economic health of the region. It’s especially nice when the money to do the development work comes not from those who live here, but from the very people we’re trying to attract.

At the same time, however, we’d ask Visit Bend to do one thing if the tax is approved. We’d like to see an accounting of how successful the new marketing effort is, one loaded with verifiable facts and figures that the entire community can understand.