City Government

Chattahoochee Hills Convention and Visitors Bureau is Now Seated

Effective April 1, 2023, the City of Chattahoochee Hills will increase its Hotel-Motel Excise Tax from 7% to 8%. This increase is due to the formation of the City of Chattahoochee Hills Convention and Visitors Bureau Authority, which was created by SB641, and will take over from what the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau had been charged with doing on our behalf.

Currently, the City is required by law to provide 32.14% of Hotel/Motel revenue collections to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB), which must be spent on tourism, conventions, and trade shows. With the formation of our own Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the 7% rate is increasing to 8% which will allocate 43.75% of collections to Chattahoochee Hills Conventions and Visitors Bureau (CHCVB). These funds are restricted and can only be spent on tourism-related activities, projects, and services. The CHCVB is solely responsible for the allocation of these funds. This entity is also eligible for additional Hotel and Motel revenues pending review and approval by the governing authority, the Chattahoochee Hills Mayor and City Council.

Last fiscal year, which ended on June 30, 2022, the City collected approximately $390,051 in Hotel-Motel taxes. Of that amount, 32.14% or $125,362 was remitted to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. This was the entity we had to remit these monies to by statute. If we had our own Convention and Visitors Bureau then like we do now, that amount would be the 43.75% or $170,647. Of the remaining portion of collections, now that we collect 8%, 18.75% or $73,135 is restricted for Tourism Product Development, and 37.5% or $146,269 can be used for any legal general fund purpose in the city government.

Robert T. Rokovitz, MPA, ICMA-CM

As of January 9th, we have collected approximately $140,761 of our budgeted $320,000. We also had a fund balance of $242,869 which included accrued interest. Of course, collections are two months behind so we are on target for our first five months of this fiscal year . Of those collections, we have remitted $48,115 to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. We have spent $151,577 on Tourism Product Development and $72,244 on Parks. This leaves us with $111,694 for the remaining fiscal year of which the next three months of collections will be remitted to the ACVB. This leaves an estimated balance of $75,796 for TPD and the City’s general fund. As a disclaimer, this is the current standing in this fund and will change once the additional 1% per hotel stay is collected and the allocations to the CVB change from 32.1% to 43.75%.

I recognize that the data and dollars I have shared are fairly difficult to follow due to how these funds are collected and allocated. The overarching goal of this article is to share how this fund will be changing with the creation of our own Convention and Visitors Bureau which we are all excited about. The CVB had a six-hour planning retreat on January 13th to discuss a strategy on how best to proceed with their roles and responsibilities. The appointed members of this Bureau include the following:

Council District 1: Joyce Woods

Council District 2: Brooke Lochore

Council District 3: Cara Lucas-Edwards

Council District 4: Steve Nygren (Chairman)

Council District 5: Carter Williamson

Mayor: Mike Greto (Vice Chairman)

At Large: Clarice Strong

At Large: Janice Barton

Hotelier: Julian West (Treasurer)