The six applicants for state tourism incentives will make their cases before the Colorado Economic Development Commission today, their first formal presentations to the board since since they submitted their projects for consideration last summer.
Each applicant will have 20 minutes to present its project to the commission, which will spend another 10 minutes asking questions.
In order to qualify for incentives under the Regional Tourism Act, the applicants must demonstrate that their projects will bring new visitors — and tax revenue — to the state.
Enacted in 2009, the RTA allows a portion of state sales taxes generated by a project that advances tourism to be used to help finance its infrastructure.
A third-party analyst hired by the state to review the applications determined all had overestimated the new visitors and tax revenue their projects would bring to the state.
Several applicants have said that the consultant — Economic & Planning Systems — misinterpreted the RTA. But EPS says it was simply following instructions it was given by the state.
“There are some obvious differences in the way the different communities looked at the statute and what they would be eligible for and what we were instructed to do,” said Daniel Guimond, a principal at the firm.
The most controversial of the projects is a 1,500-room hotel and conference center that Nashville, Tenn.-based Gaylord Entertainment is proposing in Aurora.
Aurora applied for 95 percent of the $123.8 million in sales tax it expects the Gaylord hotel project to generate over the next 30 years. EPS said it is eligible for 65.8 percent.
Aurora will argue today that it is eligible for 81 percent of the taxes generated, conceding that some of the overflow business it expects the hotel to generate doesn’t qualify because it would occur outside the hotel’s designated tourism zone, said Wendy Mitchell, president and chief executive of the Aurora Economic Development Council.
However, Mitchell said, the project should qualify for the taxes it generates as a result of Gaylord’s “original programming,” such as ice-sculpture exhibits and Dreamworks-themed events.
The commission’s meeting will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the auditorium of The Denver Post building, 101 W. Colfax Ave. Presentations will begin at 1 p.m.
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
Others in the running
Other Colorado governments seeking incentives for projects under the Regional Tourism Act:
