The Norman Transcript

Opinion

Discussion

January 5, 2013

Hotel night room taxespopular among voters

The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — Taxes on hotel and motel rooms have become popular among voters around the country. The folks that pay the taxes aren’t usually the same ones that vote for them.

It’s a way to fund tourism, parks, the arts and other interests without adding on more sales or property taxes for the local residents. Norman’s 4 percent rate is added onto the regular sales tax. Proponents want to raise that to five percent.

In Norman, half of the tax goes to the Norman Convention and Tourism Bureau, the arts receives 25 percent and the city’s parks department gets the remaining 25 percent.

Council members will receive a proposed ordinance raising the tax rate at their meeting Tuesday. It’ll be up for a second reading and public discussion on Jan. 22.

Voters would ultimately decide the tax fate. Council members want the increased revenue from out-of-town guests but they also don’t want to knock the city out of the competition for conventions, sports tournaments and other items.

If the council approves the increase, it will go to the voters, possibly on the same ballot as the mayor and council primary, April 2. If it goes to the voters, there’s a good chance it will pass. Few cities have turned them down.

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Opinion
  • Tax plan gets projects going

    A deal to divert state use taxes to fund completion of the American Indian Cultural Center Museum in Oklahoma City and build the Museum of Popular Culture in Tulsa looks like a good way to get some momentum on both projects....

    May 18, 2013

  • Tax cuts help wealthy and harm schools

    Perhaps it’s old news by now, but I hope the controversy will live on....

    May 18, 2013

  • American Legion post updating

    Editor, The Transcript: Attention all American Legion Post 88 members. We are updating our membership information. Please send us a card, letter, or e-mail as to your correct address, contact phone, and e-mail address, if any. This will ...

    May 18, 2013

  • Keeping the state’s promise

    A college education or professional certification will not guarantee a successful career, but the odds are much better when such accomplishment is achieved. Access to post-high school education is often problematic. Oklahoma’s Promise, ...

    May 18, 2013

  • National Bike to Work Day

    Norman visitors and new residents often comment on how flat it is around here. Indeed, Norman is at the crossroads of the flat western half of the state and the more hilly eastern half....

    May 17, 2013

  • Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press

    Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure that the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a ...

    May 17, 2013

  • Mothers today aren’t like early mothers

    Early mothers were known for their ability and willingness to sew for family as well as friends and neighbors. When clothes needed mending or someone needed a dress or a jacket, many mothers could always come through. “You have to stand ...

    May 16, 2013

  • The math doesn’t add up

    The $7.1 billion budget bill passed through both chambers of the state Legislature this week will have its critics. No one ever gets all they want. State Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, raised the issue of $13 million in additional allocation ...

    May 16, 2013

  • Medicaid standoff a disservice

    Does anyone else see the massive irony in Gov. Mary Fallin’s latest attack on the Obama administration? She accused the president of not keeping his word and of “actively” seeking to toss 30,000 Oklahomans off a state-subsidized health ...

    May 16, 2013

  • County’s rapid growth requires more judges

    Cleveland County judges have been asking for some bench relief for about four decades. A former district judge, writing in a Transcript guest column this month, said he began asking for at least one, and maybe two more, district judges as ...

    May 16, 2013