FARMINGTON — Davis County commissioners voted Tuesday to increase a hotel-room tax by 1.25 percent, a move they hope will help advance a proposed expansion of the Davis Conference Center.

A feasibility study completed earlier this year showed the county would see quick benefits from the expansion of the conference center.

The Transient Room Tax, which is levied on all hotel rooms in the county, has been 3 percent. The new rate, which will allow the county to collect more money come Oct. 1, will be 4.25 percent.

Currently, the county collects about $575,000 a year at the 3-percent rate, said Davis County Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings. The increase will likely mean an extra $240,000 a year for the county and could bring more, depending on growth.

Until the 2006 legislative session, only counties with a population of at least 700,000 people, meaning Salt Lake County, could increase the hotel-room tax rate on their own. Salt Lake County previously used the tax increase for an expansion of the Salt Palace. Other counties were relegated to maintaining the 3 percent rate, Rawlings said.

The rate increase allows the county to seek $500,000 in funding from the state of Utah for the conference-center expansion, said Commissioner Dannie McConkie.

"I'm looking forward to us taking the next steps," McConkie said. "This is something we've dreamed about for a long, long time."

The Davis Conference Center was completed in 2004 and has brought nearly $16 million to the local economy, said Kent Sulser, the county's economic-development manager.

An expansion of the conference center could mean $31 million that conferencegoers spend when they come to Davis County, sleep in local hotels, eat in local restaurants and shop at local stores.

"It's a great economic engine," said Commissioner Carol Page.

The conference center has exceeded expectations, Sulser said. Normally, such centers have a ramp-up period of about five years, in which they gain popularity and are in operation on a regular basis. But the Davis Conference Center has been considered full for much of the past 18 months, Sulser said.

Being occupied 75 percent of the time is considered full, he added. The Davis Conference Center has been occupied 78 percent of the time. However, some larger conventions have decided to not use the center because it lacks a dedicated exhibit hall.

Barbara Riddle, the president and chief executive officer of the Davis Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the county has missed out on 42 conventions and $5 million in tourism dollars this year because the conference center lacked capacity.

Nearly 4,285 room nights in area hotels this year can be attributed to use of the conference center, she said. That's a 33.2 percent increase from the same time last year. Conventiongoers have spent $3.2 million so far this year, an increase of 93.9 percent, Riddle said.

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