LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — The Tri-County Lodging Association wants voters to approve an increase to the Lodging Tax, this November, to fund the construction of a destination tournament soccer complex at the Lake.

At the TCLA Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, the Board of Directors motioned to continue to pursue the complex, and also encouraged the three Lake of the Ozarks Area Business Districts of Camden, Miller, and Morgan County Advisory Board members to vote in favor of pursuing a ballot initiative during the next general election.

The ballot initiative would ask the voters in the three districts to raise the lodging tax amounts to 6.0% for the explicit purpose of constructing a destination tournament soccer complex. The majority of the TCLA Board voted in favor of the motion, although the vote was not unanimous.

"I think most people at the Lake feel that it's a good opportunity that needs to be followed through on," said Sue Westenhaver, who represents the small category on the board.

"As far as the Lake goes, it could be a tremendous opportunity for us to get back the families that the Lake was kind of born and raised on!" She said no other proposal had put forward the possibility of creating as many room nights at the Lake, as the proposal for the soccer complex had. "We'd all like to have more room nights!"

"It's a big project, and it's a lot of money, and I'm glad a lot of people are interested in it," Michael Spriggs, owner of Point Randall Resort, told LakeExpo.com. "It's a great thing for the community!" But he voted against the proposal, and said while a significant portion of the tax revenues raised would come from the "small" category he represents (small resorts and vacation homes), he feels the complex would benefit larger resorts disproportionately to them. "I don't think the right people are paying for this," he said, in explaining his vote.

The Lake of the Ozarks Area Business Districts of Camden and Miller Counties also motioned and moved to continue to pursue the project. Advisory Board members from Morgan County were unable to attend this meeting and will address this issue at the March meeting.

Several organizations and local businesses funded a project analysis conducted by XO Strategic out of Kansas City, Mo. The findings indicated the Lake Area could support an eight-field destination tournament soccer complex which could provide 12-14 tournaments per year. Each tournament would include 50-300 teams over the weekends during the spring and fall business cycles. It is estimated that these tournaments would generate 50,000 to 120,000 room nights annually for the Lake of the Ozarks and provide a $75 million economic impact per year. The soccer tournaments would mandate a stay-and-play policy with a two-night minimum, which means all tournament overnight arrangements would only be made with TCLA accommodation facilities who are current in their collection and remittance of the county lodging tax.

Four public presentations were made to further educate the local residents about the idea.

Requests for Proposals (RFPs) will be sent out soon to more than 25 interested developers for the project.

An Advisory Board has been created to review the RFPs and make suggestions on the best possible locations. The Advisory Board includes three Lake area business leaders and the Presidents of both the Lake of the Ozarks Tri-County Lodging Association and the Convention & Visitor Bureau. The TCLA noted they are currently not publicizing the names of the advisory board leaders so as to avoid those individuals receiving solicitations during the process, though the names will be made public after the site recommendation is made.


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