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Campaign for Gaylord bed-tax vote intensifies
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Supporters of the Gaylord resort plan in southeast Mesa started putting up signs this week. The election is March 10.
Tim Hacker, Tribune
Evidence of a $51 million election can be seen in Mesa.
Campaign signs are going up on street corners seeking voters' support of a plan that would allow the Gaylord hotel and a neighboring resort to keep bed taxes generated at the site.
"The campaign will now be very visible," said political consultant Chuck Coughlin of the firm HighGround, which is handling the election on March 10 for developer DMB of Scottsdale.
The signs for Proposition 300 tout jobs and revenue for Mesa.
Surveys have been conducted to gauge the voters' pulse ahead of the election. Coughlin said the information is being used to assess current public attitudes and how much voters know about the projects.The deal, if approved, will benefit Gaylord Entertainment Co. of Nashville, Tenn., which plans to build a 1,200-room resort and a convention center, as well as developers of another adjacent resort. The bed-tax revenue must be used to promote the resorts.
The $51 million generated from the city's bed tax would otherwise go to the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau to promote tourism.
The Mesa City Council agreed to put the incentive to vote March 10.
Meanwhile, Mesa leaders have agreed to another $85.5 million in property tax incentives for the developers. That part of the incentive package is not on the ballot.
Mesa has received dozens of letters in support of the plan. The city estimates that the two properties will result in a nearly $1 billion investment on the site and act as the catalyst for more development on the property.
Early voting for the election begins in February.
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