Salem City Council extends hotel tax to fund tourism promotion

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Salem city councilors held their final meeting of the year on Monday where they voted to appoint three city judges, seven board and commission members and renew a lodging tax. 

All present city councilors voted in favor of the appointments. City Councilor Vanessa Nordyke was absent. 

Outgoing Councilors Virginia Stapleton, Jose Gonzalez, Trevor Phillips and Mayor Chris Hoy all gave final remarks as they prepared to step down from their posts. Gonzalez and Phillips did not seek reelection, while Stapleton ran unsuccessfully for Rep. Kevin Mannix’s seat representing House District 21.

Chris Hoy lost his reelection bid to Councilor Julie Hoy, who will take office in January.

“It was eight years ago this week that I decided to run for city council and got elected in the special election in March and took my seat in April in 2018. It’s been a minute. The one thing I want people to understand about being the mayor and being on city council is this is a group effort. This is a team sport,” Chris Hoy said. “Nothing gets accomplished because of any one person. It is a partnership between the community. And the council. With the council and staff. And the staff are really the ones who make all of this stuff happen. We might have the idea, we might set the agenda, we might set the policy, but we don’t actually do any of these things. It’s really the staff who gets it done and makes things happen.” 

City Manager Keith Stahley also gave some remarks to his outgoing colleagues on Monday. 

“You have led with grace and with courage and with logic and intellect and heart and I appreciate all of you for all that you have done for this city and for our organization,” Stahley said. “So, thank you.”

Tourism in Salem

The council voted in favor of renewing the Salem Tourism Promotion Area fee, a 2% hotel tax on overnight stays which helps fund Travel Salem, for an additional five years. All present councilors voted to renew the fee. 

The fee was originally approved in 2019 and since then it has generated more than $3.9 million, the bulk of which has gone to Travel Salem, a staff report from the city’s Chief Financial Officer Josh Eggleston said. 

The fee includes overnight stays in Salem hotels, motels and any stays booked through booking agencies like Expedia, Eggleston said. The funds go to Travel Salem to help the organization promote overnight tourism and lodging in Salem through advertising, branding efforts, promotions, sponsorship of events, and other programs. 

Luke Emanuel, the president of the new Marionberries summer baseball team, which will play on Willamette University’s baseball field next June, spoke in favor of the fee. 

“In collaboration with Willamette University, we are proud recipients of  STPA (Salem Tourism Promotion Area) funds,” Emanuel said. “Those funds will be used to renovate Willamette’s baseball field and softball field, with synthetic turf and lights. These upgrades will make these fields playable year round with minimal wear and tear. And that means more use. More visiting teams and more visiting fans for many years to come.” 

Salem’s new summer baseball team will be called the Marion Berries 

Matt Smith, the general manager of the Holman Riverfront Park Hotel at 195 Commercial Street S.E. also spoke in favor of the fee Monday. 

“Since opening in March of 2023, we have not had any guests who have had any negative reaction to this fee,” Smith said. “A lot of our guests are business travelers and that fee is passed right along in their expense reports with no negative connotation. And it has been a great system for our city.” 

Appointees 

• Sara Williams, a local attorney with the Marion County Juvenile Court Consortium, was reappointed as a judge pro-tem to the Salem Municipal Court. 
• Lynda Olson, a local family law, probate and estate planning attorney, was reappointed as a judge pro-tem to the Salem Municipal Court. 
• Russell Barnett III, a Portland-based attorney focused on murder cases throughout the state, was appointed as a judge pro-temto the Salem Municipal Court. 
• Jacqueline Roche, a local business owner and current ambassador for the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, was appointed to the Traffic Commission. 
• Ramona Murtha, an IT office manager at Willamette University, was appointed to the Traffic Commission. 
• Sigrid Olsen, a history teacher with the Salem Keizer School District who previously served on the Salem Public Library Board for eight years, was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
• Rick Hartwig, a retired educator and the chair of the Community Advisory Committee for Cherriots, was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. 
• Debbie Lockhart, who retired after 20 years working as the deputy city recorder for the city of Keizer, was appointed to the Library Advisory Board.
• Erik Taylor, an operations manager with Maps Credit Union, was appointed to the Downtown Advisory Board.
• Angie Oven, the owner of The Bridal Gallery, a bridal shop in Salem, was appointed to the Downtown Advisory Board. 

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.

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