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October 20, 2003 Page 260 · Level I grants are equivalent to a maximum of 45% of the revenues received from the local option 1 cent and three local option ~ cent sales taxes generated at the project, less State collection fees, plus up to 45% of the revenues from the 6% local occupancy tax generated by the project, less County collection fees, for a period not to exceed five full years of operation. · Level II grants are equivalent to a maximum of 90% of the revenues received from the local option 1 cent and three lo~al option ~ cent sales taxes generated by the project, less State collection fees, plus up to 90% of the revenues from the 6% local occupancy tax generated by the project, less County collection fees, for a period not to exceed five full years of operation. Under no circumstances will the incentive grant payments be tied to the local property taxes to be generated by the project and all property taxes to be paid by the new or expanding hotel/conference center development must be paid in full and kept current during the period that the H/CCDI incentive grant remains in effect · The developer (grant recipient) shall provide the County complete and accurate room occupancy tax, retail sales tax and local option sales tax payment information, as well as monthly average daily rate and monthly average occupancy percentage. The County and Tourism Authority shall secure the confidentiality of that information in recognition of the proprietary nature of the data within the parameters authorized under state law. · Hotel/conference center development incentive grant benefits may not be transferred or otherwise conveyed to another party without the specific consent of the Board of Commissioners. · All hotel/conference center development incentive grant benefits are designed to be linked directly to local room tax and local option sales tax revenues received by the County attributable directly to the development of a specific project. Failure of the project to provide accurate revenue information, or to actually forward payment of collected occupancy tax and sales tax revenues to the appropriate agency shall void any responsibility of the County to pay incentives to the developer under the terms of the H/CCDI incentive grant agreement. · This incentive grant shall apply only to the occupancy tax and to the first 1 cent and three ~ cent local option sales tax revenues. Revenue from any additional future local room tax or local option sales tax which may be adopted shall not be applicable for purposes of any hotel/conference center development incentive grant program. · The distribution of incentive grant payments shall coincide with the receipt of quarterly sales tax revenues from the State of North Carolina by the County. The timing of payments to the developer shall be quarterly within 30 days of receipt of funds from the State and verification documentation of project revenue performance by the developer. Distribution of the portion of the grant related to the local occupancy tax shall follow the same timetable. · All hotel/conference center development incentive grants will be conveyed by an agreement between the developer and the County. The County will hold a hearing for the purpose of receiving public comment on the agreement before it is executed. (E-3) Resolution Increasin~ the Hotel Occupanc~ Tax from Five Percent to Six Percent Chairman Freeman reported that he and Mr. Day recently visited the James B. Hunt Horse Arena in Raleigh. He commented on the possibility of making improvements to the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center to create a similar facility in Cabarrus County. Commissioner Carruth made a motion to adopt the Resolution increasing the hotel occupancy tax from fiwe percent to six percent effective January 1, 2004, contingent upon Mr. Day and the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) working out a revised budget for the CVB, including funds for the operation of CVB, a sports marketing program, Events Center and capital reserve. There was lengthy debate regarding the proposed increase in the hotel occupancy tax. Commissioner Privette and Vice Chairman Suggs opposed the increase and cited concerns about the need for an increase in the occupancy tax and the lack of a proposal as to how the revenue from the increased tax would be used. Commissioners Carruth and Carpenter supported the increase based upon the following: (1) Revenue of the increased hotel occupancy tax could be used to enhance tourism in Cabarrus County and to make improvements at the Arena that would otherwise be funded with property tax dollars; and (2) Hotel occupancy tax would be paid primarily by visitors to Cabarrus County. Commissioner Carpenter stated for the record that the Convention and ~isitors Bureau has done an excellent job in its efforts to increase tourism in Cabarrus County.