A bill to expand a state tax-incentive program for tourism projects is on its way to the governor and a possible encounter with a veto pen.
Senate Bill 124 passed the House on Wed-nesday 37-28 after a brief rehash of the measure.
Six communities across the state are seeking funding for tourism projects under the Regional Tourism Act, the 2009 law that allows up to $50 million for as many as two large-scale tourism projects a year, with a total cap of six over three years. The law allows sales-tax-increment financing to fund infrastructure projects for the tourism projects.
The bill would remove the two-per-year cap and allow as many as all six projects to be funded at once, provided they are approved by the state’s Economic Development Commission.
Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office earlier expressed concern with the bill, saying there needs to be more oversight provisions and metrics proving the economic benefits and showing that dollars generated from Regional Tourism Act projects come from out-of-state visitors.
