Anacortes became the final city to sign on to a proposed Tourism Promotion area which will use an new $2 hotel room tax to creat a Skagit Tourism Bureau to help promote Skagit County.
Representatives of several Chambers of Commerce in the county applauded when the Council passed the motion, which will allow the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the county to form the Tourist Bureau.
Mayor Dean Maxwell said, "This will general some fairly large marketing opportunities for Skagit County. Council member Cynthia Richardson noted that all affected hotels in Anacortes had signed a preliminary petition in support of the tax, which will be added to room charges at hotels with more than 40 rooms.
Council member Bill Turner called it a "win-won" and added, "The future is bright for Skagit County. Council member Brad Adams said he liked that the county and cities were brought together for this action.
It's estimated that $400,000 per year could be raised for the new marketing effort.
The agreement uses a recent state law to collect the room fees from hotels within the tourist promotion area. A governing board composed of hotel and government representatives will be able to use the fees to support a united marketing campaign for the county.