The hotel-motel tax ordinance failed to pass at Monday night’s city council meeting.
The tax was a proposal that would raise the 3 percent tax every year by 1 percent for the next three consecutive years in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
City council was hopeful that if the raised income tax levy on the November ballot passed, the proceeds would go directly into the city’s general fund and the ordinance would not be needed.
Council member Robert McOmber said he didn’t feel inclined to move ahead with the tax when council members discussed the tax before voting.
“I do not want to do this now, “McOmber said. “I think the more cautious thing to do would be to reject the proposition.”
McOmber said he was proud of all the work that fellow council member Joel Kuhlman put in when drawing up the ordinance, but that it is too soon for it to be set in stone.
“Maybe in a year or two we can come back to it, but it isn’t something I want to take effect as of right now,” he said.
Council member Terry Dunn agreed with McOmber, saying he would be happy to entertain the idea of a hotel-motel tax down the road.
“Maybe a while from now, say in a year or so, we can look at this again,” Dunn said. “Especially with the income tax levy passing, which we didn’t think it would, the hotel-motel tax isn’t something we are in dire need of.”
Dunn said the only way he would have voted to pass the hotel-motel ordinance would be if he thought the city was in a calamitous situation, but he thinks there is a total lack of support for it now.
Council member Joel Kuhlman worked on creating the ordinance and thanked hotel owners for their support and involvement.
“I am happy to have had hotel and motel owners with us every step of the way and for giving their opinion, and they were the most solid evidence of this ordinance,” Kuhlman said. “I have enjoyed learning more about these businesses while creating this ordinance.”
There was much speculation during the process of the ordinance moving toward its third and final reading by the council that the loss of spendable income from travelers passing Bowling Green and staying in another town would negatively affect the city’s attractions, restaurants and gas stations.
Mike Frost of the council said he did not vote for the passing of the hotel-motel tax because he is unaware of the possible “detrimental effects it might have on not only those businesses but the whole community.”
