OKC leaders encourage hotel tax increase, concerns remain

Some travelers and a local non-profit are raising concerns about a proposed increase to the motel-hotel tax in Oklahoma City up for an August 27th vote.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Some travelers and a local non-profit are raising concerns about a proposed increase to the motel-hotel tax in Oklahoma City up for an August 27 vote.

Voters are being asked to approve raising the tax from 5.5% to 9.25%, what would be the first increase of its kind for the city since 2004.

"We tax visitors and we use their taxes to attract more visitors, and all of these visitors significantly help pay for city services they barely use," said Mayor David Holt during his State of The City address last week, advocating for the increase. "This is just about the best deal there is."

During the same address, Holt outlined that the visitor industry is responsible for $2.6 billion a year in economic impact to the metro.

"We estimate visitors pay at least a quarter of our city’s total sales tax. That means visitors are paying to fund our police officers, our firefighters, our streets," said Holt. "Visitors also drive improvements in amenities and services that we all enjoy, like nonstop flights at our airport."

Holt stressed that the Greater Chamber of Oklahoma City is running a full campaign to educate Oklahomans about the potential tax change. Holt said that Oklahoma City's current rate is below peer cities like Tulsa, Wichita and Austin.

"We have built a world class city, but we have to spend money to get people to enjoy it," said Holt. "That's just the name of the game."

News 4 spoke with Florida resident Eric Graves Monday, who was visiting Oklahoma City for the first time with his family.

"The rate here was very, very good," said Graves of the cost to stay in his hotel. "I enjoyed the rate. The cleanliness and the good rate is why we're here."

The same News 4 employee outlined the upcoming hotel tax vote to Graves, what it would mean for the city, and asked him if we still feel comfortable traveling to Oklahoma City if the rate went up.

"No, I wouldn't be more comfortable," Graves said. "As far as increasing the tax, no, I don't think it's going to help at all."

Holt said if folks don't travel to Oklahoma City, they're dealing with costlier taxes in other cities. He said the proposal also has support from local hotels in the city.

"When you go to their cities, you're paying a higher rate than what they are paying in our city, and you're paying for their marketing and their city services," said Holt.

News 4 also reached out to local non-profit The Homeless Alliance after seeing concerns online about the impact the tax increase could have on Oklahoma residents who are relying on hotels for transitional housing. News 4 received the following statement:

As service providers, we know how real the hotel cycle is for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Hotel rooms are often a short-term option for people who have no other place to stay, but they can eat up what little income the individual has to put towards housing, leaving them unable to come up with a security deposit and first month's rent for an apartment. Increasing fees associated with staying in a hotel could potentially further perpetuate that cycle of people getting stuck staying in hotels without the resources needed to move out.

Meghan Mueller, CEO, The Homeless Alliance