TDA Looks To Tax Collector To Crack Down On Delinquent Tourism Taxpayers (Waynesville Smoky Mountain News) (02/22/12)
Waynesville, North Carolina – County commissioners approved a resolution that will allow the tax collector to recover money from hotel and motel owners not paying the county's 4-percent occupancy tax. “It's not fair when you've got some people who are paying on time every month and (more)

Will There Be a “Comic-Con Tax” on San Diego Visitors? (Comics Beat) (02/21/12)
San Diego, California – Instead, the plan's supporters came up with the idea of a specially worded property tax just on hotels, to be put into action as a form of occupancy tax, adding a 3% charge for hotels closest to the convention center, 2% a little farther out (more)

Moore County Airport Upgrades Prompt Outcry From Some Residents (Fayetteville Observer) (02/20/12)
Whispering Pines, North Carolina – A $344,445 county match is required, money which Maness said will come from an occupancy tax on area hotel rooms. "The key is that, for the most part, the occupancy tax comes from visitors who come from outside Moore County," Maness said. (more)

Sleepy Hollow Board Requests Added Taxation Powers (The Daily Sleepy Hollow) (02/16/12)
Sleepy Hollow, New York – Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray said the hotel occupancy tax would help fund tourism efforts. Sleepy Hollow trustees are formally requesting that state legislators grant them the ability to impose a hotel (more)

County To Put 3 Taxes On Ballot (San Mateo Daily Journal) (02/16/12)
San Mateo, California – Pine said the June placement bodes well for the tax measures because they won't have competition. An increase in the transient occupancy tax would put the county on par with neighboring jurisdictions. The county currently charges 10 percent and a (more)

City Awaits Chamber's Tax Reports (Kilgore News Herald) (02/15/12)
Kilgore, Texas – The chamber, one of four organizations that receive Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, has collected approximately $1.7 million dollars from the revenues since Fiscal Year 2001. The total includes disbursements of $203,078 in FY2011 and $197,000 the previous (more)

Hotel Funds Allocated For Beach Maintenance (Rockport Pilot) (02/15/12)
Rockport, Texas – A divided 3-2 vote of the Aransas County commissioners court approved directing $56,000 in hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funds for maintenance of the beach park. Those funds are contingent upon the Aransas County Navigation District (ACND) and the City of (more)

Hotel Tax Debate Rages; Payments Not Open To Public (Lancaster Newspapers) (02/14/12)
Lancaster, Pennsylvania – Puzzled by discrepancies between the Smith estimates and the county numbers, the visitors bureau filed a right-to-know request with the county last year, seeking information from the treasurer on taxes paid and occupancy rates at individual county (more)

Warren County Owed Occupancy Tax Money (Glens Falls Post-Star) (02/12/12)
Queensbury, New York – Warren County is owed nearly $140,000 in unpaid occupancy tax dating back to last summer, and the biggest chunk is owed by Lake George's biggest hotel. The Fort William Henry Hotel & Conference Center has not paid its so-called "bed tax" (more)

Tarrytown Seeks Money Through Hotel Occupancy Tax (The Daily Sleepy Hollow) (02/11/12)
Tarrytown, New York – The Town and six Villages of Greenburgh, along with Sleepy Hollow, are seeking the ability to tax hotel occupancy. A hotel occupancy tax is the perfect solution for raising revenues in these (more)

Tax Hikes On Visalia City Council Retreat Agenda (Visalia Times-Delta) (02/11/12)
Visalia, California – City officials will look into hiring a polling firm to test whether Visalia voters will support raising either sales, utilities or transient occupancy taxes to stave off cuts to city services in either 2013 or 2014. The council stopped short of asking (more)

Jump In Hotel Taxes Collected 'Total Shock' To Palm Springs Hoteliers (The Desert Sun) (02/11/12)
Palm Springs, California – Transient occupancy tax collection from stays in hotels, timeshares and other vacation rental property totaled $1.1 million, some $235,510 more than December 2010, the city's latest report shows. The collection amount was up markedly over December 2009 (more)

Angels Camp's Town Bank Accounts Improve (Calaveras Enterprise) (02/10/12)
San Andreas, California – The city has collected 58 percent of the budgeted income from the Transient Occupancy Tax, 56 percent of the budgeted income from sales tax, and 53 percent of the budgeted income from property taxes. "Having these trends and knowing these trends now (more)

Caruso Eyes The Dodgers, Politics (The Daily Sound) (02/10/12)
Santa Barbara, California – Developer Rick Caruso is prepared to demolish the decrepit Miramar buildings if he can get the county to approve a 10-year Transient Occupancy Tax rebate for any new hotel that gets built on the property. Rick Lemmo, Caruso's representative (more)

County Commission Chairman Ted Davis Gives State Of County Address (Island Gazette) (02/10/12)
Carolina Beach, North Carolina – He said room occupancy taxes - collected from hotels and motels - are a good measure of "out-of- town visitors, business activity, and retail sales growth. I am happy to report that in the past two years, those revenues have increased by 10 percent. (more)

Hotel Taxes May Soon Be Designated Only For Tourism (Sparta Expositor) (02/09/12)
Sparta, Tennessee – Tourism promotion in Sparta may get a financial boost if Tennessee legislators approve a proposed bill that would require all proceeds collected from the hotel occupancy taxes to be used to directly increase tourism in the (more)

Funding Barely There For Cowboy Capital Events (Bandera County Courier) (02/09/12)
Bandera, Texxas – Bandera's cupboard that formerly contained the Hotel-Motel Occupancy Tax revenue (HOT funds) was inexplicably bare. As a result, the city will explore asking investigators from the Office of the Texas Comptroller to conduct financial audits of (more)

Number Of Lee County Visitors, Tax Collections Increase In December (The News-Press) (02/09/12)
Fort Myers, Florida – Preliminary bed tax collections topped $1.8 million, for an 18 percent year-over-year increase in December, as Lee County's Tourist Development Council will learn this morning at its monthly meeting. (more)

Editorial: Anaheim's Bed-Tax Bungling (OCRegister) (02/08/12)
Anaheim, California – Anaheim, based on the vote, will essentially be forgoing revenue from the hotel occupancy tax – colloquially known as a bed tax – a 15 percent tax the city charges hotel and motel guests on top of the room rate. The city will receive no bed-tax revenue (more)

Miami-Dade’s Hotel Rebound Hits A Plateau In December (Miami Herald) (02/08/12)
Miami, Florida – The vacation may be winding down for Miami-Dade’s hotel rebound. Collections of hotel taxes leveled off in December, ending a streak of double-digit gains seen throughout most of 2011. Growth dropped from an average of 28 percent in the fall to just 1.6 percent in December. That still brought in a record $7.3 million for the month. (more)

TOT Expansion Plan Moves Forward (MyMotherLode.com) (02/07/12)
Sonora, California – The Tuolumne County Supervisors are moving ahead with a plan to ask voters to expand the Transient Occupancy Tax. Expanding the TOT to include campgrounds, house boats and RV parks would bring the county an estimated $350,000 a year. (more)

Judge Orders Lewis County To Comply With Krug's FOI Request (WatertownDailyTimes.com) (02/05/12)
Watertown, New York – A permit issued for a “special event” for all-terrain vehicles; a list of businesses delinquent on hotel occupancy tax, also known as bed tax, with documentation on county actions to collect the money; and amounts of trail-permit fees and funding. (more)

National Group Opposes Campbell County Meals, Occupancy Taxes (Lynchburg News and Advance) (02/04/12)
Lynchburg, Virginia – A national organization, Americans for Prosperity, publicly opposed meals and occupancy taxes in Campbell County this week. The idea for meals and occupancy taxes came up in January at the county board of supervisors' retreat, when county staff (more)

Hotel Tax For Corn Palace Not Popular (Daily Republic) (02/04/12)
Mitchell, South Dakota – A BID using a hotel/motel occupancy tax could impose a $2 maximum fee per occupied room per night, with the revenue set aside for the Corn Palace project. Creating a district would require the support of at least nine of the 17 hotels and motels in the (more)

Plan Could Save Railtown And Fairgrounds (MyMotherLode.com) (02/03/12)
Sonora, California – County Administrator Craig Pedro is proposing that the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) that is placed on hotels, be expanded to include campgrounds, houseboats and RV parks. "This would not be an increase in the rate that the voters approved in 2010 (more)

Chamber Delivers Settlement Check To Huntsville (Huntsville Item) (02/03/12)
Huntsville, Texas – The Huntsville-Walker County Chamber of Commerce has delivered its $361,000 check to the city of Huntsville in fulfillment of a settlement between all parties in a near three-year dispute over use of hotel occupancy tax funds. (more)

College Station Considers Using Hotel Taxes To Attract Sporting Events (Bryan College Station Eagle) (01/31/12)
Bryan/College Station, Texas – For most of the past decade, the city of College Station stowed away money collected from its hotel occupancy tax in hopes of building a convention center on University Drive. But after negative voter feedback and unfavorable market (more)

Roanoke Co. Lodging Tax Increase Gets Senate OK (Roanoke Times) (01/31/12)
Roanoke, Virginia – Senate Bill 103 would allow the county to increase the transient occupancy tax from 5 percent to 7 percent, matching the levies imposed by Salem and Roanoke. The bill's sponsor, Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, said revenue from the increase would be (more)

Do We Really Need All That Improving? (Southern Pines Pilot) (01/29/12)
Southern Pines, North Carolina – Never mind that $341,000 in local room occupancy taxes is going to be committed to it. Never mind that commercial air flights here are about as likely as nonstop service to Mars. I know the airport authorities say that none of the money comes from local (more)

Local Tourism Officials Tout Overnight Stays (Parkersburg News) (01/29/12)
Parkersburg, West Virginia – The county Innovative Grant Fund is made up of 8.5 percent of the county's hotel-motel occupancy taxes. The revenues are set aside for grants for projects, programs and events that can demonstrate they increased overnight hotel stays. (more)

Hospitality Group Criticizes Tax Exemption (Canada.com) (01/28/12)
Nanaimo, Canada – The tax exemption is also only part of a larger incentive package the city has kept confidential. Hoteliers have raised a number of concerns since the tax exemption bylaw was proposed last year, including the drop in occupancy existing hotels and (more)

A Taxing Question (Columbia Daily Tribune) (01/28/12)
Columbia, Missouri – Last February, Jefferson City voters approved raising their hotel tax from 3 percent to 7 percent to pay for a planned convention center. Occupancy in the three Jefferson City hotels owned by the Puri Group has dropped 10 percent since the higher tax (more)

Task Force OKs Sales Tax Increase After Surveys Counted (Patch.com) (01/28/12)
Pacifica, California – A slight majority of respondents supported extending the Transient Occupancy Tax, also known as the hotel tax, to vacation rentals in town. 51.8 percent of residents agreed, while 18.2 percent somewhat supported the proposal. (more)

Bond Concerns Spark Debate Over Center, Hotel Tax (Central Penn Business Journal) (01/27/12)
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – The taxes generated about $4.85 million in 2011, though receipts for December are not yet finalized. The excise tax and 20 percent of the occupancy tax goes to the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau to fund marketing and promotions. (more)

Pillow Tax Proposal In Brookings (Keloland TV) (01/27/12)
Brookings, South Dakota – Generating more traffic through Brooking's hotels is the reason the community is discussing a new $2 pillow tax. Pillow tax is another name for an occupancy tax charged on hotel rooms. "Ultimately, what we want to do is we want to generate enough (more)

JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort Gets $1M Deal (The Desert Sun) (01/27/12)
Palm Springs, California – “I'd be in favor of maybe reducing some of the fees to get that done, but I can't see ever starting to give back our TOT (transient occupancy tax).” How it would work is, after the water park opens the hotel would keep whatever transient occupancy tax (more)

City Hires Consultant To Help Educate Community On Possible Tax Increase (Ridgecrest Daily Independent) (01/26/12)
Ridgecrest, California – The City Council heard from Godbe Research on its survey with local feedback on potential revenue measures to increase the local sales tax and/or the transient occupancy tax. Although the Council took no action, discussion began on whether one or (more)

Nothing But A Number (Santa Fe Reporter) (01/25/12)
Santa Fe, New Mexico – OTAB presides over tax dollars made from hotel bookings, deciding how best to spend them in order to attract tourism via cultural events. As AHA is all about cultural events, Murphy believed the progressive youth arts organization would be a perfect fit for occupancy tax funds. “We wanted to use the money to build a website, and I put together a packet that outlined our strategy for gradually growing our festival into more of a regional thing (more)

County Looks At Revenue Possibilities (Altavista Journal) (01/25/12)
Altavista, Virginia – Other forms of revenue discussed were a meals tax and a transient occupancy tax. Lane said Campbell County is the only area locality, besides Appomattox County, that does not have a meals tax. Altavista generates $600,000 of meals tax revenue a year, (more)

Campbell County Officials May Consider Meals, Room Tax (Lynchburg News and Advance) (01/22/12)
Lynchburg, Virginia – Campbell County officials may consider instituting meals and occupancy taxes as they stare down an expected multimillion-dollar funding gap in 2012-13. Much of that budget strain — possibly as much as $6 million — will come as the county school (more)

Town Hires Firm To Talk Taxes (Hi-Desert Star) (01/22/12)
Yucca Valley, California – The Lew Edwards Group will be tasked with reaching out to the public about a 1 percent sales tax and a 3 percent hotel bed tax. A town letter to bidders explains the 30-year sales tax and the 3 percent increase in the transient occupancy tax will be (more)

Plan Pitched To Spend Hotel Taxes On Arena (Modesto Bee) (01/22/12)
Sacramento, California – Brian Larson, chairman of the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, said an expanded Convention Center could yield as much as $5 million a year in new hotel occupancy taxes. Currently, the hotel tax goes mostly toward renovations of properties (more)

Columbia Hotel Owners Question Need For Lodging Tax Rate Increase (Columbia Missourian) (01/20/12)
Columbia, Missouri – Mike Kelly, a member of Columbia's Hospitality Association and general manager of the Stoney Creek Inn, said at the council's meeting Tuesday night that the negative relationship between higher tax rates and occupancy is clear. (more)

County OK's Tourism Funds For Airport (Southern Pines Pilot) (01/20/12)
Southern Pines, North Carolina – The board voted 3-1 to adopt a resolution appropriating $344,445 in room occupancy tax funds for use as the local match to draw down $3.1 million in federal funds for capital improvements. Commissioner Tim Lea cast the dissenting vote after questioning (more)

Hike In Hotel Room Tax Is Proposed (Lancaster Newspapers) (01/20/12)
Lancaster, Pennsylvania – Debt payments are supposed to come from the county hotel room tax. With the prolonged economic downturn, that tax revenue has been lower than projected. The lower revenue is a reflection of historically low hotel room occupancy, contends the Greater (more)

Fayette County Releases Its Tourism-Related Taxes Data (The Register-Herald) (01/20/12)
Oak Hill, West Virginia – Travel spending in Fayette County totaled $67.1 million in 2011, according to a yearend report by the New River Gorge Convention and Visitors Bureau (NRGCVB). Last year, tourism-related taxes in the county brought in $696,000, providing an estimated $279 in tax relief per household (more)

Town Occupancy Tax Collections Up (Wilkes Journal Patriot) (01/19/12)
Wilkesboro, North Carolina – The Town of Wilkesboro collected $111,294.80 from its 3 percent occupancy tax on motels and hotels within the town limits for the Wilkesboro Tourism Development Authority (TDA) in fiscal 2010-11. The money is used to assist with marketing the town and (more)

Harrison To Renew Push For Local Hotel Tax (Patch.com) (01/19/12)
Harrison, New York – The Village of Harrison will once again push for approval of a hotel occupancy tax that would allow the municipality to collect a 3 percent tax on every overnight stay at three local hotels. By Zach Oliva Hoping to open a new revenue stream in 2012, (more)

Leander City Council Revisits Scope Of Hotel Tax (Austin American-Statesman) (01/19/12)
Leander, Texas – The City of Leander may quit collecting hotel occupancy taxes in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Since the city began collecting the tax, which is intended to be used to promote the hotel and tourism industry in (more)

Greensboro Coliseum Seeks Support For $60M Project List (Triad Business Journal) (01/19/12)
Greensboro, North Carolina – Funding for the list of projects, which will be discussed by the Greensboro City Council at a retreat next week, would be split evenly between revenues from the local hotel-motel occupancy tax and a $30 million bond referendum coliseum officials want (more)

As Carmel Innkeepers Push Renovation Tax Incentive, Union Insists On Worker (Monterey County Weekly) (01/19/12)
Carmel, California – Spruced-up facilities would allow hotels to hike rates, and corresponding increases in tax revenues would be split 50-50 between the city and hotels. Carmel relies on a 10-percent transit occupancy tax for roughly a third of its revenue; the incentive (more)

County Approves Tourism Tax Funds For Airport (Southern Pines Pilot) (01/18/12)
Southern Pines, North Carolina – The $344445 in Convention and Visitors Bureau room occupancy taxes will be used as the local match to draw down $3.1 million in federal funds channeled through the NC Department of Transportation. airport Manager Ron Maness said the funds would be used (more)

Supervisors Change Course On Taxing Authority (Leesburg Today) (01/18/12)
Leesburg, Virginia – The Board of Supervisors has reversed its position on supporting local authority to enact taxes--including a meals tax thrice rejected by Loudoun voters, admissions tax for large events, a cigarette tax and an enhanced Transient Occupancy Tax. (more)

Sales Tax Going Before SM Voters (Santa Maria Times) (01/18/12)
Santa Maria, California – She also questioned why the council couldn't increase its Transient Occupancy Tax to more quickly raise money for public-safety expenses. But the majority of residents at the council meeting Tuesday night favored both putting the decision in the hands (more)

Increased Lodging Tax Proposed To Fund New Airport Terminal (UM Maneater) (01/18/12)
Columbia, Missouri – “There is a direct correlation to occupancy as you raise taxes,” Kelly said. Columbia Hospitality Association President Jevon Jerke said the organization opposes the tax increase because of the current economic climate and stiff competition Columbia (more)

Lodging Tax Increase Could Pay For New Airport Terminal (KRCG) (01/17/12)
Columbia, Missouri – Council members want to make sure their 7% lodging tax proposal meets state requirements before sending it to voters. Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid said, “There is state legislation that limits hotel occupancy taxes at 5% for our convention centers. (more)

New Taxes Focus Of Legislative Meeting (Patch.com) (01/17/12)
Rockland County, New York – The legislators will set a public hearing date for the local law imposing the hotel/motel room occupancy tax of three percent. The legislature will vote on setting a public hearing date for the local law imposing a $0.30 monthly surcharge for wireless (more)

First-year Film Festival Asks For City Support (Victoria Advocate) (01/16/12)
Victoria, Texas – The city has that option with hotel occupancy tax funds, he said. City Attorney Thomas Gwosdz said the legal standard for spending the hotel occupancy tax funds is that it must promote tourism, the convention and hotel industry. (more)

Staycationers Drive Tourism Revenue For Corpus Christi, CVB CEO Says (Corpus Christi Caller Times) (01/16/12)
Corpus Christi, Texas – Arnold said the bureau collected about $8.3 million in hotel occupancy tax last year, the most since the city started keeping track of it and a 6 percent increase compared with the previous year. The jump, Arnold said, is attributed to a 12 percent (more)

In Vote, County Supports Tourism (Tasley Eastern Shore News) (01/14/12)
Eastville, Virginia – Supervisors voted 5-0 to pass an amendment to the transient occupancy tax ordinance which clarified funding allocations Tuesday. Nunez said the county has a transient occupancy tax at 5 percent and is required to dedicate 3 percent of that tax for (more)

Wash. Cities Worried Tax Plan Will Cost Them Money (Seattle Post Intelligencer) (01/14/12)
Seattle, Washington – A loss of tax penalties and interest paid by tax cheats. These fees would now be kept by the state. – elimination of a local tax on the square footage of businesses, also known as the occupancy tax – less aggressive state pursuit of local tax cheats (more)

Bed Taxes Bode Well For Tourism (Palm Beach Post) (01/14/12)
West Palm Beach, Florida – Occupancy and room rates tracked by a consulting agency indicated business was up, suggesting that tax collections didn't match the level of business. During the holiday season, businesses may be more prone to miss the filing deadline, but Amidon is (more)

First-year Victoria Film Festival Asks For City Support (Victoria Advocate) (01/13/12)
Victoria, Texas – O.C. Garza, the city's director of communications, said the work session, scheduled for 4 p.m. in the council chamber, is to discuss the proposed event and figure out if it is something that should be and can be financially supported through hotel/motel occupancy tax funds. "We have already collected some funds that are not included in the budget, that would be council's determination" to spend, Garza said. "As a city, we spend budgeted funds, but as we collect funds, the council can always come back and request that other things be added or taken out of the budget." (more)

Chula Vista Hotel Tax Lives Despite Opposition (San Diego Union-Tribune) (01/13/12)
Chula Vista, California – The money from a hotel tax in Chula Vista will continue to flow toward the chamber of commerce’s marketing efforts, despite more than a third of the city’s hoteliers signing a petition to disband the special district. Chula Vista’s tourism marketing district collects a 2.5 percent tax (more)

Clagett: Raise Hotel Tax For Downtown Use (Frederick News-Post) (01/13/12)
Frederick, Maryland – Delegate Galen Clagett plans to pitch an idea today to raise the county's hotel tax and generate some extra cash that could help bring a conference center to downtown Frederick. Now at 3 percent, the hotel tax rate in Frederick County is the lowest in the state, Clagett said. The state delegate is proposing to set the Frederick County rate at 5 percent, a change he estimates would bring in an extra $700,000 a year. (more)

Wrightsville Beach Room Occupancy Tax Fell In Fall 2011 (Lumina News) (01/12/12)
Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina – Shawn Braden, executive vice president of marketing for the Wilmington and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the committee that in New Hanover County, room occupancy tax revenues increased 4.13 percent in October from 2010, and rose 6.54 (more)

Lawmakers Send Tax, Fee Proposals To Full Rockland Legislature For Vote (The Journal News) (01/12/12)
White Plains, New York – The committee also voted 9-0 to approve a 30-cent monthly E-911 cellphone tax and a 3 percent hotel-occupancy tax and to increase the county's portion of the mortgage tax by 0.25 percentage points. The latter would increase the county's portion from 25 (more)

Hotel, Motel Tax Collections Increase (The Augusta Chronicle) (01/10/12)
Augusta, Georgia – The hotel and motel occupancy rate was 61.7 percent through November representing a 1.6 percent increase. Clark predicts collections will continue to rise in 2012, especially as the county experiences an influx of visitors to the new Evans Town Center (more)

New Year, New Hotel Tax Increase - Chicago Hotel Tax Increased To 16.4% (MPI Chicago Area Chapter) (01/09/12)
Chicago, Illinois – On January 1, 2012, Chicago's hotel tax increased one percentage point to 16.4 percent costing an average of $1.78 more a night. This tax rate is on par with New York City and Las Vegas according to Chicago officials. When you look further at the increase, it's not just the lodging tax that has increased, but with meetings as well. (more)

US Virgin Islands Increases Hotel Room, Rental Car Taxes To Make Up Budget Deficit (Washington Post) (01/07/12)
Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands – Tourists flocking to the U.S. Virgin Islands should expect to pay a little more for services this year as the government tries to offset an estimated $90 million deficit. The administration of Gov. John de Jongh reminded business owners this week that the hotel room tax has been raised from 8 to 10 percent. (more)

Bed Tax Revenues Increase; Walton Had Best November Ever (The Northwest Florida Daily News) (01/06/12)
Fort Walton Beach, Florida – Okaloosa County TDC Director Mark Bellinger said November was the third-highest recorded November for visitor attendance, bed tax revenue collections and overnight lodging occupancy. “Our repeat guests very much wanted to return to the Emerald Coast (more)

New Year Will Feature Major Development Issues (Napa Valley Register) (01/06/12)
Napa, California – Spitler has been a supporter of new development in town as a way to boost revenue from the Transient Occupancy Tax, which hotel guests pay. It accounts for about $3.5 million per year for the city budget, about half of all the revenue in the General (more)

Budget Ordinance To Fund Tourism Projects (Victoria Advocate) (01/04/12)
Victoria, Texas – Victoria tourist attractions stand to receive more than $173,000 from hotel/motel taxes. The first reading of the ordinance Tuesday night during the city council meeting involves approving the transferal of $173,800 among seven (more)

Palm Springs Hoteliers Partner To Create New Attractions (The Desert Sun) (01/04/12)
Palm Springs, California – The requested grant is equal to half the amount the eight hotels will have paid in from the tax on resort fees over three years. The resort hotels began collecting the city transient occupancy taxes not only on rooms but on resort fees for valet parking, airport transportation and (more)

Supervisors Reset Priority List For Assembly Session (Leesburg Today) (01/04/12)
Leesburg, Virginia – Five members of the new board voted to keep a position of support for local authority to enact taxes like the often-unpopular meals tax, admissions tax for large events, cigarette tax, and an enhanced Transient Occupancy Tax (more)

One Break For Travelers: Cities Not Looking To Raise Visitor Taxes (USA TODAY) (01/03/12)
Baltimore, Maryland – A handful of cities have raised travel-related taxes to deal with deep budget gaps the last year or two. Baltimore, for instance, raised its hotel occupancy tax from 7.5% to 9.5% in July 2010 to help counter a $121 million budget shortfall (more)

Where Do We Go From Here? (Hickory Daily Record) (12/30/11)
Hickory, North Carolina – Because the Hickory Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau is planning to use the one-percent hike in Hickory's occupancy tax to pay for a parking deck – they keep a close eye on the occupancy rates in the city. “We've had a 5-percent increase in (more)

With No Objection Raised, Picente Will Sign Hotel Tax (Rome Sentinel) (12/29/11)
Rome, New York – A three-year extension of Oneida County's 2 percent hotel occupancy tax through 2014 is set to take effect, following a hearing Tuesday by County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. that he said attracted no speakers. "I'll sign it immediately...so it can (more)

‘Visit Ukiah’ To Hire Marketing Consultant (Ukiah Daily Journal) (12/27/11)
Ukiah, California – The group charged with spending the city's Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) dollars has more than $120000, and hopes to spend it on a new website, signs and a marketing consultant. "The amount budgeted for 2012 – $122,500 – is not a typical amount," said Shannon Riley (more)

County To Discuss Changes To HOT Board (Brenham Banner Press) (12/26/11)
Brenham, Texas – The Washington County Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) Board will be seeing some changes at the commissioners court meeting if both items in the agenda are passed. Commissioners will meet Tuesday at 9 am in room 103 of the (more)

Local Economic Officials Say Outlook Brighter For 2012 (Statesville Record & Landmark) (12/26/11)
Statesville, North Carolina – Retail sales are up, along with site visits from prospective companies and occupancy tax collections, which lead Marek and his associates to believe that consumer confidence is on the rise. Iredell County's success in recruiting new industry and (more)

County Tax Revenues Could Rise (McDuffie Mirror) (12/23/11)
Augusta, Georgia – An amended hotel-motel tax ordinance could herald an increase in revenue for McDuffie County. The change allows hotels to charge an occupancy tax for the initial 30 consecutive days of continuous occupancy, instead of the previous (more)

Mansfield Council Extends Bed Tax (Mansfield News Journal) (12/21/11)
Mansfield, Ohio – "But longer-term will always be a goal." City officials first imposed the 3 percent occupancy tax on motel guests in 1988. That tax was initially extended for three more years, then seven, then six years. Mayor Tim Theaker said the new agreement (more)

Turlock Sees Increase In Business Visitors (The Turlock Journal) (12/21/11)
Turlock, California – The Turlock general fund and Transient Occupancy Tax partially fund the CVB's activities. Desa Cammack, director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, made a report of the CVB's activities for 2011. The summary included information from a check-in (more)

2012: Complex Issues Will Demand Agent Participation (Travel Agent) (12/21/11)
New York, New York – In addition to opposing hotel occupancy taxes (state or local), the Interactive Travel Services Association (ITSA) has offered support on a diversity of issues from baggage fees to the problems of unbundled airfares, urging full disclosure (more)

City May Change Bed Tax Deal (Mansfield News Journal) (12/20/11)
Mansfield, Ohio – The city first imposed a 3 percent transient occupancy tax on guests at area motels in 1988. Portions of the tax are forwarded to the two nonprofit groups, which promote tourism in Mansfield. After initial enactment, the bed tax was extended first for (more)

Court Allocates Funds From Occupancy Tax (Hillsboro Reporter) (12/19/11)
Hillsboro, Texas – How to spend $65,000 in hotel/motel occupancy tax revenue for FY 2012 was decided by Hill County Commissioners' Court Tuesday morning, December 13. The county's responsibility to maintain a 160-foot stretch of Fort Graham Road South off Farm Road 2604 (more)

Chamber Moving Out of Civic Center for New Visitors' Bureau (Your Houston News) (12/17/11)
Houston, Texas – The city council approved at their most recent meeting the continued payment of $5,000 in hotel occupancy tax money to the chamber on a quarterly basis. The funds are used by the chamber to promote the city and the civic center for rental (more)

Orleans County Will Continue Motel Tax (The Daily News Online) (12/15/11)
Albion, New York – Motel owners, bed and breakfast operators and other lodges in Orleans County will continue to collect a 4 percent occupancy tax the next two years. The County legislature approved a two-year extension of the tax on Wednesday, saying the (more)

Tourism Thrives In Napa Valley, Marketers Say (Napa Valley Register) (12/15/11)
Napa, California – The main proof is the revenue being generated by the Transient Occupancy Tax, the levy paid by guests on every room in a hotel or inn. In the past year, Umble said, revenue has increased 11 percent over the previous year, up to $240,000 (more)
|