May 21: Tourism, Taxes, and Tradeoffs

Tourism plays a central role in Bend’s economy and places real demands on public safety, parks, roads, and other city services. Recent changes to Oregon’s Transient Lodging Tax law through House Bill 4148 have given cities more flexibility in how tourism dollars can be used, while still maintaining support for destination marketing.

This City Club forum will explore how Bend’s Transient Lodging Tax fits within Oregon’s highly constrained tax system, what HB 4148 changed, and how the City of Bend and Visit Bend are working through new options and tradeoffs. Panelists will examine tourism’s benefits and impacts, compare Bend to peer communities, and discuss the policy choices ahead knowing that visitor spending is bolstering the local economy at a time of extreme uncertainty.