New sports center could be coming to Meridian if an auditorium district is passed

A new sports center could be coming to Meridian, if voters want it.

The fate of the sports center lies on an auditorium district making it to the November 2025 ballot and passing with a simple majority, according to Sean Evans, the CEO of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce.

Auditorium districts are not new to the Treasure Valley. Most recently, Nampa voters approved an auditorium district with a 61.1% majority, giving the city funds to supplement running Nampa-owned venues, like the Civic Center and Ford Idaho Center, reducing the use of property taxes/taxes from community members.

“Auditorium districts are tools that local areas can implement in order to get some tax dollars,” Evans said. “I use the word tax very, very lightly because when you say the word tax, everyone thinks, ‘oh, it’s going to impact me locally.’”

But an auditorium district is paid for by visitors, Evans said, through a 5% tax on hotel stays within the district boundaries.

According to Evans, a study the chamber had done showed that, based on the revenue from hotels within the district boundaries in 2023, the tax would generate $2.2 million annually. According to Evans, addressing the cost of the center and timeline for its build is something the chamber will address in the future, but not now.

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