SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A lodging tax in Spokane Valley is continuing investment in the city’s capital and entertainment projects.
The HUB Sports Center is one of the places in the area that credits its success and growth to the grants it has received from Spokane Valley’s 3.3% lodging tax.
“Lodging taxes are collected from visitors that come in and stay at hotels,” said the HUB’s Executive Director Phil Champlin. “As a nonprofit that hosts some events that bring people in from out of the area, it’s kind of just neat circle of life type thing where we can apply for funds that help us with operations and marketing and promotions.”
Last year, 58 event nights were held at the HUB. This year thanks to the addition of two new synthetic fields, that number is expected to go up and therefore help with the growth of tourism in the area.
“We are bringing people who need a place to stay,” Champlin said.
Another recipient of this year’s grant is the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum, which uses the funds to enhance advertising and marketing efforts.
“People that come into the valley, we always help them with questions,” said the museum’s director and founder Jayne Singleton. “That helps keep them in the valley too.”
The funds provided by the lodging tax helped Spokane Valley Heritage Museum advertise its events beyond the area.
City councilmember Rod Higgings, who leads the lodging tax allocation committee, says this initiative has gotten wraparound support from the community.
“Spokane Valley is a hidden jewel. We would like more people to recognize we exist,” Higgings said.
Close to $3 million in allocations from this tax were approved earlier this month at a Spokane Valley City Council meeting.
The impact this tax has had in previous years is evident through the economic benefits organizations like the HUB and the museum have brought to the area.
“It is estimated that our organization generated $7 million in economic impact last year through these events and tournaments that bring people in from out of town,” Champlin said. “We do a really good job of sharing the impact these dollars can have.”
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
