The $550 million expansion of the San Diego Convention Center took its first legal step forward Monday, when the San Diego City Council voted to create a special district and tax on local hotels to raise most of the money needed. The plan calls for hotel property owners and hotel operators on leased public land to pay a new tax that would generate between $28 million and $33 million annually toward the approximately $40 million needed each year to pay off 30-year bonds. If two-thirds of the owners approve the plan and other funding sources fall into place, supporters hope the facility can be open by 2016.
San Diego Convention Center Expansion Clears First Hurdle
Council approves hotel tax to raise $33 million per year to pay off bonds
October 12, 2011
