Thank you for the opportunity to speak about Measure 9-94. I feel it’s important to inform citizens that this is not a tax on Bend residents.

Measure 9-94 is a small increase in the tax tourists pay to stay in Bend hotels. The current room tax rate is 9 percent, and this measure raises it to 10.4 percent. By comparison, Boise’s rate is 13 percent, Portland’s 14.5 percent and Seattle’s is 15.8 percent.

Some local hotels already exceed the 10.4 percent in their room tax rates to offset costs of free breakfasts and other amenities. Apparently, this has not deterred visitors from these large hotels and resorts that saw increases this year.

So how does this measure impact Bend residents? Upon its passage, it provides up to an additional $200,000 a year for police and firefighters, $150,000 a year for arts and culture programs and $300,000 to market Bend to potential tourists in Seattle and Northern California — currently untapped markets that could significantly influence economic gains for Bend. Increased tourism benefits all of us, especially those of us who serve the tourist community (in addition to our local community) with arts and cultural activities such as First Friday, in which I and many others participate.

I encourage the passing of this measure that adds just $1.40 for tourists presently spending $100 a night for a Bend hotel — quite reasonable in my opinion. Please join me in voting yes on Measure 9-94 — a measure that will benefit our entire community.

Billye Turner

Bend