Visit Greater Grand Forks gets the Majority of its Budget From “Lodging Tax”

(KNOX) – Grand Forks City Council approved budget amendments for “Visit Greater Grand Forks.”

Executive director of “Visit Greater Grand Forks,” Julie Rygg was before Grand Forks City Council to explain her bureau’s budgeting process.

Rygg says that the vast majority of her organization’s budget comes from the Lodging Tax.

“97 percent of our budget comes from Lodging Tax, so if this is impacted, our budget is impacted,” Rygg told council. “What we do is trying to replenish that tax, trying to bring people to town. It’s a bit cyclical, right. The visitors come, the visitors pay the lodging tax.”

Each month, the City of Grand Forks collects the 3% Lodging Tax charged on hotel and motel room stays within the city. The city then remits the collections to Visit Greater Grand Forks.

Collections are coming in strong and are projected to exceed 2024’s budgeted revenues of $1,100, 000.

Collections of the Lodging Tax are expected to come in $150,000 to $200,000 than what is needed for “Visit Greater Grand Forks” budget.

As a result, the pass-through remittance to “Visit Greater Grand Forks” is also expected to exceed the bureau’s budget.