Based on the recommendation of a $50,000 study, Boise needs an additional 80,000 square feet of new convention space. The feasibility report was commissioned by the Greater Boise Auditorium District (GBAD) despite the slumping economy, which has put a damper on the hospitality industry. The GBAD is funded by a 4- percent tax on hotel rooms.
auditorium district
Hoffman: Taxpayers should be angry over $1.3 million spent without accountability, transparency
October 05, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inFor the better part of the last 18 years, the Greater Boise Auditorium District has had a bewildering kinship with the Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau – a relationship in which the bureau has a no-bid deal to spend $1.3 million in taxpayer dollars with almost no oversight from the auditorium district that provides the funding. When a local hotelier asked legitimate questions about how the money is spent, the bureau refused to provide details, and the district remained aloof.
