It’s a little more tax for a lot more benefit — and if you’re a resident of Lawton, it won’t cost you a dime.
Supporters are arguing those merits as residents prepare to go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether they want to extend the existing hotel-motel tax for 10 more years and to increase its total by 1.5 percent, to 7 percent. Those who like the tax say yes to renewal, explaining it funds activities as diverse as the fireworks display at the annual Freedom Fest, tours offered by docents at the historic Mattie Beal Home, activities that lure national conventions to Lawton, and economic development.
The existing tax, which expires May 1, is a 5.5 percent fee charged on the rental of hotel and motel rooms in Lawton, but residents who have proof they live in Lawton, as well as state and federal employees (to include the military), are exempt, as defined by the city ordinance that sets the details of the tax. By definition — on the ballot and in the ordinance — tax revenues are restricted to expenditures that encourage, promote and foster conventions, tourism, industrial development and economic development in Lawton.
While the hotel-motel tax has existed since 1986, this year’s proposal contains several key changes. For example, the new tax is for 10 years (the existing tax is a five-year one) and will total 7 percent (the existing tax is 5.5 percent).
This year’s proposal also extends the tax to Airbnb and similar rental establishments, capturing revenue from what has become an increasingly popular housing option in communities across the nation, said Ward 4 Councilman Jay Burk. That change also is why what has long been called the hotel-motel tax is actually the Hotel/Transient Guest Tax, under the ordinance’s definition.
That ordinance now defines hotel as including vacation rental homes, transient guest homes, tourist homes, houses or courts, rooming houses, bed and breakfast establishments, trailer houses and dormitory spaces where bed space is rented to individuals or groups. It also adds a new operator category: a person or entity who charges for the occupancy or receives a service fee or commission from the occupancy of a room.
The ordinance retains a long-standing provision that specifies the tax is charged only to those who who not live in Lawton. Lawton residents are excluded, as are those working for the U.S. government or any agency or division thereof and the State of Oklahoma and any political subdivision thereof. That includes military personnel in Lawton on military orders.
In past years, the 5.5 percent tax has generated about $1.2 million annually, but city officials cut that estimate in half for the 2020-2021 fiscal year when creating the city budget last spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect (occupancy rates have since recovered, say officials with the City of Lawton and the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce). City officials estimate the 1.5 percent increase in the tax would generate another $300,000.
Tax revenues are remitted to the City of Lawton, which allocates funds based on a formula set by the City Council.
In past years, that has meant 70 percent went to the chamber and the Lawton Economic Development Corporation (this fiscal year, the allocation was 60 percent), 14 percent to tourism (this year, 18 percent), 11 percent to the city’s economic development fund (this year, 15 percent) and 5 percent to the Lawton Enhancement Trust Authority (this year, 7 percent).
Patty Neuwirth, executive director of the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, said funds from the tourism category support LPO activities: a season of concerts for adults and LPO’s children’s concert, provided to city youth free of charge.
“It’s very unusual for a town our size to have a professional orchestra,” she said. “We want to keep that going.”
Burk, long-time chair of Lawton Enhancement Trust Authority, said revenues benefit both LETA — founded to enhance the community’s appearance —and other groups that contribute to Lawton’s quality of life.
“That does a lot of good things,” Burk said, pointing to projects such as upgrades in Elmer Thomas Park, and work in parks, medians and spaces across Lawton. “We try to put a new face on Lawton. We change the ugly. Without that funding to help push some initiatives forward, I don’t think any of that stuff would get done.”
Chamber President Krista Ratliff said the revenue funds activities and entities that are working to make Lawton a five-star city, while helping to entice conventions and tourists to the community. Without the tax, there would be no money for the chamber’s convention and tourism bureau.
“That is something that brings tourists to town,” she said, adding it also is why hotel and motel owners are supporting this year’s initiative. “Without that, people are not staying in hotels.”
Brad Cooksey, president of the Lawton Economic Development Corporation, said that for years, the tax was the only source of revenue for LEDC’s economic development and job creation efforts.
“Without this source, I don’t know if the LEDC would have been created and kept going,” he said.
"hotel" - Google News
February 07, 2021 at 02:00PM
https://ift.tt/3oWv3w4
Polls open Tuesday for hotel-motel tax vote - The Lawton Constitution
"hotel" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3aTFdGH
https://ift.tt/2xwvOre
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Polls open Tuesday for hotel-motel tax vote - The Lawton Constitution"
Post a Comment