Amador County – The Amador Council of Tourism reported that Transient Occupancy Taxes are down, but Executive Director Maurine Funk is still trying to get funding from cities, and from voluntary fee collection by local hotels and motels.

The TOT tax on hotels and motels seems to be down around the county, Funk said in a report to the Amador County Board of Supervisors. Funk said the Amador Council of Tourism is “trying to ween ourselves off of funding” from the County, with fundraisers such as the 49er Treasure Trail.

She said she is also signing up businesses, such as hotels and motels, for their voluntary fee assessment of $1 per room per night to be given to the Council of Tourism to be used for county advertising and promotions.

Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said “we don’t receive the lion’s share of TOTs,” and asked if Funk could work with the other cities that do not give funding to the Council of Tourism. Funk said ACT received $1,000 from Plymouth last year, and Amador City funnels its funds through a different organization.

She said Sutter Creek has a lodging assessment fee which is expected to drop in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. It is collected from Days Inn, American Exchange Hotel and some goes to ACT, while some of the funding goes to the Sutter Creek Business & Professional Association, which then gives some money to ACT.

Plasse said at a recent meeting, he heard that Jackson expects to get $300,000 in Transient Occupancy Tax funding this fiscal year, instead of $400,000 to $440,000 as in years past.

Funk said there was a successful Assessors’ Conference held in Sutter Creek in August, and hosted by Amador County Assessor Jim Rooney, who is a state assessors officer. Funk said she is promoting the idea of mid-week conferences to bring big crowds during off days. She said it takes coordination, and she asks shops to open early, to make it easier for conference attendees to spend there money here.

Supervisor Louis Boitano said he also wants to try to get more weekday people to visit Sutter Creek and Amador County. He said it makes the weekdays busy, and “if you’re not careful you might trip over a Lexis,” but the midweek traffic helps businesses. He said booking in advance, as they did for a recent Napa conference, also allows people to get a better rate.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.