By Katrina Van Duzee/Garden Grove Journal
The city of Garden Grove passed an agreement with the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor’s and Convention Bureau on how funds generated from the recently passed Tourism District assessment will be distributed.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, councilmember’s voted 5-0 to approve a negotiated agreement with the VCB, similar to the agreement between the city of Anaheim and the VCB, allocating 80 percent of the funds generated from the Garden Grove Tourism Improvement District to the VCB.
This hefty chunk of the assessment revenue is to be used to advertise our local hotels with Anaheim hotels.
The goal of this agreement and the GGTID is to boost foot traffic in Garden Grove hotels, by becoming associated with the famous Disneyland resort complex.
The city has continually stated this move into joint marketing is crucial for heightened success of Garden Grove hotels. Although some community members have criticized this move saying it will cause the city to lose it’s individuality, councilmembers agree it’s more about bringing revenue into the city, then maintaining an identity no one outside California recognizes.
Of the 2.5 percent assessment in Tier I hotels (North of Lampson Avenue), the VCB will be given 2 percent and of the 0.5 percent assessment on hotels in Tier II (south of Lampson Avenue) they will receive 0.4 percent. There are no hotels currently located in Tier II. The funds will be used to promote the hotels through various advertising outlets.
“We thrive on Disneyland and the convention center; it is what we live off of. People outside of Orange County know Anaheim, but Garden Grove is less recognizable, so it makes sense to be included in their resort complex,” General Manager of the Hilton Garden Inn on Harbor Boulevard Moses said last year.
Also included in the agreement, Garden Grove is entitled to withhold up to 1 percent of the GGTID assessment to cover administrative costs and four seats on the VCB Board of Directors will be reserved for a city official and Garden Grove hotel representatives.
Since visitors pay the assessment, it is estimated this agreement will not cost the city anything, but will generate $2 million annually for local tourism improvement efforts.
A public hearing was also held on Tuesday to consider an amendment to an agreement with Chevron Energy Solutions Company to install photovoltaic systems on the rooftops of city buildings. The proposed solar systems are to replace a 2009 city-approved project for energy generation carport structures the Department of Energy said it would not fund through its Energy Efficient and Conservation Block Grant Program.
The city received a $1.5 million grant from the DOE to fund energy conservation projects in 2009 .It is estimated the solar panels will save the city $2 million over 25 years.
