Lompoc won’t be left off future Santa Barbara County wine maps after all. 

During a special meeting Friday, the City Council — Victor Vega, specifically — reversed course and approved joining the proposed Wine Business Improvement District. 

The 3-0 vote occurred more than two weeks after the panel rejected participating in the district, which will tack on a 1% assessment for wine sold directly to consumers by the bottle or glass.  At the Jan. 21 meeting, the panel voted 2-1, with Vega being the lone opponent.

All three members participating in the item had to vote in favor for it to pass since two other council members stepped off the dais. Jeremy Ball and Steve Bridge have financial ties to the wine industry, leading each to declare a conflict of interest.

“I believe it’s worth the risk,” Mayor Jim Mosby said Friday. “You know me, I don’t support taxation without representation or assessments without representation.”

He noted the item will return in five years when the council could decide if the city should continue to participate. 

“The reason I wanted to have this meeting again is because there wasn’t enough information out,” Vega said, adding it came as a “surprise” to him and said he was left “holding the bag” when he cast the vote that left Lompoc out of the BID. 

The reconsideration came after Santa Barbara County’s seven other cities agreed to join the industry-led effort.

Lompoc not participating in the BID meant marketing materials for the Santa Barbara County wine region such as maps would have excluded all wineries and tasting rooms within the city of Lompoc. 

A bottle of wine costing $44 would include the local sales tax of 8.75% along with the new 1% assessment of 44 cent. In total, the new 1% assessment could generate more than $1.5 million.

The Santa Barbara County Vintners Association, currently funded by members’ dues, would instead get its funding from the new assessment and expects to launch marketing campaigns to attract wine lovers to the region. 

Councilmembers in Lompoc expressed displeasure including that the annual Vintners Festival hasn’t been held in their city for a number of years.

Kathleen Griffith of Flying Goat Cellars lobbied the council to ask the Vintners Association to help prepare point-of-sale systems for the wineries and tasting rooms switch to include the new assessment. 

She also pushed for a written commitment from the Vintners Association that Lompoc wineries can participate in the organization’s events.

“In the past they had a pay-to-play for some preferred events,” Griffith said. “We may not have a dues anymore, but I’m concerned there will continue to be this pay-to-play scheme for preferred events so that becomes very exclusionary.”

She also asked that future marketing efforts focus on Lompoc’s cool weather — “Skip the summer sundress, please,” Griffith said. 

Additionally, she said the council should seek a promise the annual Vintners Festival will take place in Lompoc every three to five years. 

Most of the speakers again urged the council to participate.  

“The goal of the BID is not to assess and take money from wineries,” said Keith Saarloos of Saarloos & Sons. “The goal of the BID is to have a collective, where we all come together, we all have a unified front. We get to market our region, Santa Barbara County, together.” 

Since wineries have limited hours, local restaurants, hotels and other parts of the economy will benefit from increased visitors, Saarloos added. 

“This BID is going to happen, and I implore you to not miss this final opportunity to be a part of it. Failing to do so will severely damage small businesses in your city and ones managed and staffed by your constituents,” Eric Wilson, winemaker for Longoria Wines, added.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will consider approving the Wine BID during a meeting set to start at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Betteravia Government Center’s board hearing room, 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy., Santa Maria.