A more than two-year legal battle over the City of Tulsa’s proposed Tourism Improvement District appears to be coming to a close, with the city winning the fight over the special assessment.
Tulsa County District Judge William Musseman granted the city’s request for summary judgement Wednesday, agreeing with their arguments the 3% assessment on hotels with 110 rooms or more was established properly.
The owners of downtown’s Aloft hotel sued over the proposal in December 2018, claiming the city violated the law when it based the assessment district on hotels with at least 110 rooms rather than the 50 rooms in state statute.
A Tulsa County District Court judge agreed and ruled against the city early last year, but on appeal, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the law lets cities choose minimum room counts above 50 and sent the case back down.
The TID's 3% assessment will pay for enhanced tourism marketing and other efforts on the hotels’ behalf by Tulsa Regional Tourism.
"So, the money is used to generate business and activity specifically to benefit those hotel groups, whether they’re in by room number or whether they voluntarily opt in," said Tulsa Regional Tourism President Ray Hoyt.
According to city filings, there are 33 hotels with at least 110 rooms. Estimates before the pandemic projected the assessment would generate up to $4 million a year.
"With the pandemic and this coming into play, it’s going to really help the hoteliers in this TID and really change some of those challenges they face every day because we can drive people into their hotels through this effort," Hoyt said.
The city declined to comment on the ruling. A spokesperson said when the city will activate the TID has not been determined, but it will not be retroactive.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
