SAN DIEGO
The Hotel Motel Association of San Diego
County has given conditional approval to a measure that would raise the bulk of
funding for a proposed $520 million San Diego Convention Center expansion
through a surcharge on hotel rooms.
Association President Jim Durbin said the
group’s approval came with the condition that the makeup of the Convention
Center’s governing board be changed to include four representatives from the
hotel industry. There are currently no hoteliers on the center’s board.
The hoteliers group has proposed a setup
where the Convention Center board would include four hotel representatives, two
members from organized labor, two at-large members, and one member from a local
tourist attraction.
Under the city proposal, San Diego hotels
with at least 30 rooms would finance approximately three-quarters of the Convention
Center expansion cost through room surcharges.
Downtown hotels would add 3 percent to the
price of rooms, with 2 percent added at hotels in Mission Valley, Mission Bay
and Harbor Island, and 1 percent at all others.
