TIDs create an evergreen source of funding for the local hotel and tourism industry. Hotels within the boundaries of the TID implement an assessment on individual room sales (Allegheny County’s proposed assessment would be 2% of the room rate), the funds from which are required to be used to promote participating properties and destination marketing. Such an ongoing funding loop will enable the TID to sustain for as long as it is useful. Allegheny County’s TID would be administered by VisitPITTSBURGH but overseen by a governance committee of hoteliers. It includes a five-year sunset clause that would be implemented and renewed at the discretion of the TID Committee.

TIDs are enabled by law; they are versions of Neighborhood Improvement Districts (NID) and legislated accordingly by the state in which they are located. Pennsylvania’s enabling legislation is currently specific to cities. The local effort to create a TID in the Pittsburgh region is to amend the current law so that it also covers “counties of the second class,” which would allow Allegheny County to create a TID. Once this amendment is passed and signed into law, Allegheny County Council must formally approve the creation of a TID. Once that has occurred, the TID Formation Committee, comprised of tourism and hospitality leaders in the region, will begin the process of officially creating the TID.

No. Zero taxpayer dollars would go toward the TID. Rather, the TID would be funded by a 2% assessment levied on hotel room folios.

Once the TID is formally allowed to be created, after passing County Council, the TID Formation Committee, comprised of hoteliers in the region, will review and approve the investment plan designed and presented by VisitPITTSBURGH, as the administrator of the TID. The apportionments have not yet been determined and cannot be until the option of creating a TID in Allegheny County is passed by County Council. By law, action on the TID is prohibited until after it is created.

The TID will have a lasting positive impact on the county's residents. There are no downsides for residents to Allegheny County having a TID. The TID will not be funded by taxpayers, but rather via a small percent assessment of individual lodging room rate added to individual hotel room folios (bills). The local tourism industry provides jobs to 44,000 local residents (2019 figure) and, with additional investment, has the potential to provide even more jobs to people here. In addition to being a job creator, the TID will increase revenue generated from visitors paying to stay at hotels and participate in ancillary activities (restaurants, museums, sporting events, outdoor activities, etc.), which will provide more opportunity to improve the quality of life in the region. Overall, the TID would act as a strong economic driver for the region.

COVID-19 had a dramatic impact on the local hotel and tourism industry, resulting in a loss of nearly 60% of room sales and nearly 50% of tourism-related revenue in 2020 compared to 2019. As so many markets across the country, particularly those with which Pittsburgh and Allegheny County compete, work to increase their tourism to pre-pandemic levels and beyond, the Pittsburgh area cannot fall behind. The Allegheny County TID will enable the region to increase its destination marketing efforts to promote the region to increase the number of visitors here, increase the number of hotel rooms that are sold, and, notably, boost economic development here by supporting the creation of jobs, generating revenue for ancillary businesses and improving local quality of life.

The enabling legislation currently being reviewed in Harrisburg will only allow TIDs to be created in cities and counties, not regions comprising a number of counties. Other counties across the Commonwealth are exploring opportunities to create their own TIDs, however, no common legislation has been developed yet.

The hotel tax is split between a number of organizations: VisitPITTSBURGH (receiving 28% of the funds), Visit Monroeville (receiving 2% of the funds) and the Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority and Allegheny County receiving 70% of the funds. With the funding from this tax split so much, it leaves limited resources for a meaningful, dedicated and ongoing destination marketing effort. That is what the TID is intended to do, and without placing any of the funding burden on local taxpayers.

Allegheny County’s TID would be administered by VisitPITTSBURGH but overseen by a TID governance committee which consists of hoteliers from across Allegheny County. It includes a five-year sunset clause, which would be implemented and renewed at the discretion of the TID committee.

There are two existing TIDs in Pennsylvania: one in Philadelphia and two in municipalities on Berks County. There are 193 TIDs across the country.

The TID applies to lodging facilities with 50 rooms or more.

TIDs are required to have a sunset provision of no less than five years. As the end of the TID draws close, the TID committee may renew the TID for an additional period of time established by the committee. The county would then be required to approve the renewal and new timeframe.

A specific date has not been provided, but hopes are the legislation that would allow the TID to be created in Allegheny County will pass and be signed by the Governor in the early Fall 2022. It will then go to County Council to adopt. There is no timetable for when County Council might address the initiative, but expectations are for it to take place soon after following a required 60-day implementation period between when the enabling legislation is passed by the Commonwealth and when the county can begin to address it.

In March 2022, 291,000 room nights were sold, generating $36.7 million in room revenue in Allegheny County. In research conducted by Civitas and Tourism Economics, markets that have TIDs in place experience an average 4.5% increase in hotel room revenues compared to markets that do not have TIDs.

There is a TID Formation Committee comprised of hoteliers from across Allegheny County. The formation committee will oversee the development of bylaws and the inaugural investment plan. The initial investment plan will be designed and presented by VisitPITTSBURGH, as the administrator of the TID.