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By Jill Nolin, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.McClatchy-Tribune Regional News Sept. 10--Montgomery County officials might increase the lodging tax rate both to reduce a $5 million budget shortfall and to
increase funding to promote local tourism and travel. A measure that would transition the county from charging $1 per hotel room per night to levying a 2.4 percent tax is on the agenda for Monday's County Commission meeting. The 2.4 percent rate would be in addition to the city's 8.5 percent and the state's 4 percent rates, bringing the total local tax to 14.9 percent. If passed, the change is projected to bring in an additional $551,000 in the 2011 fiscal year. Of that new revenue, about $121,000 would go to the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce and the remainder -- about $430,000 -- would go to the county's general fund. So far this year, the county has generated about $951,000 through the lodging tax with the $1-per-hotel-room charge. County Commission Chairman Elton Dean declined to elaborate on the details of the proposed increase when contacted Thursday because he said the commissioners still were deliberating on the matter. "I don't want people all down our back before we even decide what we're going to do," Dean said Thursday, adding that they were still "just throwing things around" when it came to deciding what percentage might be used. Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said Thursday that he would not be opposed to the county increasing its tax rate as long as the total local tax stayed below 15 percent so the city could stay competitive with other metro areas in the state. Strange said he also hoped the county would send more funds to the chamber to help market and promote Montgomery -- and the measure does that. Anna Buckalew, senior vice president of the chamber, praised the county for seeing tourism as an economic development tool that could create jobs and economic returns. Buckalew said for every $1.66 that the city and county jointly give the chamber, that contribution generates more than $16 in lodging and sales tax revenues. She did not believe the higher rate would hurt the chamber's efforts to recruit conventions and visitors to the city. But County Commission Vice Chairman Reed Ingram said he could not support the lodging tax change because he believed the county had not done all that it could to collect what businesses already should be paying. "I think we've got a polluted inventory," Ingram said. "Until we are sure we are getting the money on all the inventory of the lodging, I don't see that we need to raise it. "This tax would not affect the citizens of Montgomery County, but still, if we can get the revenues where we want it to be through the audits, I'd rather try that first," he added. The County Commission will present its proposed 2011 budget at the Monday meeting, and the commissioners could vote on the budget at the next meeting in two weeks. Dean said the commission has decided not to require employees to take furlough days, or forced unpaid time off, but a strict hiring freeze will be put in place. The hiring freeze is expected to save the county about $1 million in the next fiscal year. "We're still pushing to brainstorm to find other means of revenue without taxing," Dean said. ----- To see more of the Montgomery Advertiser, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail
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