Proposed hotel tax increase in OKC is now heading to voter ballots
The Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday agreed to submit a proposed hotel tax increase to voters following assurances the funding can be used to promote destination districts and share in the cost of running streetcars for large events downtown.
As a result of the unanimous city council vote, residents will be asked on Aug. 27 to approve changing Oklahoma City’s hotel tax from 5.5% to 9.25%, an increase of 26% over the current total charges.
Champ Patel, who runs one of the state’s largest string of hotels, and James Beard Award winning chef Andrew Black both spoke in favor of the tax. No opponents showed up to speak on the proposal.
Black, who is opening a restaurant at the Skirvin Hilton, said he has encountered people across the country unaware of Oklahoma City attractions.
“We have a lot of people, friends I have out of state, asking me what is in Oklahoma City,” Black said. “They don’t know what’s there.”
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Harshil Patel, chair of the city’s conventions and visitors commission, told the city council Oklahoma City is losing out on events due to the city being outspent by other cities. Oklahoma City’s hotel tax was last raised in 2004 and is below most regional comparable cities.
“We try to apply for all we can to get the good events here,” Harshil Patel said. “It's hard to compete in scenarios where our overall budget is a third of other cities like Fort Worth.”
How will the increased funding from OKC hotel tax increase be used?
The proposed increased funding is broken into four categories:
75% for tourism and convention promotion.
13.3% for event sponsorships.
6.7% for fairgrounds capital improvements.
5% for convention center improvements.
Councilmembers, including Nikki Nice and James Cooper, initially asked for a delay on their vote to explore how to use part of the hotel tax increase to promote districts like Paseo.
Todd Stone, supportive of the increase, argued the emphasis on promoting the city’s convention center and fairgrounds is a recognition the their economic impact.
“The Oklahoma City Fairgrounds is the main driver for Oklahoma City, by far,” Stone said. “When you go by it, every weekend you see 100 horse trailers sitting there, and it’s every weekend.”
Councilmembers were cautioned by City Manager Craig Freeman that delay in setting the election and amending the proposal supported by hoteliers could come with unintended consequences.
“The hoteliers are behind this,” Freeman said. “I think if we add a lot of things and we defer this, we might take away from that support and might get some opposition.”
Cooper agreed with Freeman, saying “any amendments are going to end up with pushback and opposition.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Council sets Aug. 27 vote on proposed hotel tax hike