HB 2161 Summary

• Establishes tourism marketing authorities in Arizona municipalities and counties with populations under two million, allowing them to assess transient lodging rooms up to $5 per night to fund tourism promotion.

• Requires a petition signed by owners or authorized representatives of at least 67% of transient lodging rooms within a geographic area and approval from participating governing bodies to form an authority.

• Authorities must contract with a nonprofit tourism promotion organization exempt from federal taxation that has existed for at least five years (or two years if no five-year organization exists) to provide tourism marketing services.

• Assessments are collected by the Department of Revenue alongside transaction privilege taxes and distributed monthly to participating municipalities or counties, which forward funds to contracted tourism promotion agencies.

• Authorities automatically terminate after ten years unless renewed through petition and governing body approval, and may be terminated earlier with a petition signed by owners of at least 51% of transient lodging rooms in the authority.