County hotel tax still has legs
By Steve Herring
Published in News on July 27, 2015 1:46 PM
State lawmakers will be in Raleigh for another two weeks at least -- plenty of time to move a bill through the chambers that would impose a countywide 1 percent hotel occupancy tax, state Sen. Louis Pate said.
Pate said he supports the local bill, but will not support any amendments to it, particularly one guaranteeing how the tax revenue would be split between Wayne County and the city of Goldsboro.
Wayne County commissioners last week voiced concern that time was running out and sent a resolution to Pate, Senate deputy president pro-tempore, and Sen. Don Davis, imploring them to move the bill through before the Senate adjourns.
The hotel tax is the linchpin of an agreement between the city Goldsboro and Wayne County to construct a city sports complex and the county's agricultural and convention center.
The money from the new tax could only be used for marketing travel and tourism in the county and not for construction. The money for the agriculture and convention center is a separate issue to be hammered out between the city and county from revenues from the city's existing 5 percent occupancy tax.
But Wayne County Manager George Wood has said that without the additional tax that the contract between the city and county is void and neither facility will be built.
"The county commissioners have been working for a good while trying to get things in line so they could go ahead and start construction of a regional agricultural center," Pate said. "There are provisions that counties can take on an occupancy tax for hotels. It is supposed to be for travel and tourism. There are some pretty strict guidelines established as to how that money can be spent."
Making the tax countywide means it would include the Sleep Inn in Mount Olive, he noted.
"That has led to some, I guess the owners of the Mount Olive (Sleep Inn) hotel are sort of upset, but you will have to talk to them about what they want to say," Pate said. "I don't want to put words in their mouth."
It came to the point that Mount Olive officials got involved and they, along with county commissioners, went to Raleigh last week to see what legislators could do, Pate said.
"We have to pass a bill that allows an additional 1-percent occupancy tax," Pate said. "In other words, that would put them at the limit of 6 percent. The bill that has passed the House, and is now over in the Senate, allows the 1-percent occupancy tax, and it describes that it goes all over Wayne County. It says it has to be used for marketing and the other part for travel and tourism related.
"In doing all of that (Rep.) John Bell got a bill through the House and it came over to the Senate. Now there is some discussion about making an amendment that guarantees how the county and city are going to divide up this money. I don't see that that is necessary for the General Assembly to make that sort of guarantee. I think that is really between the county and the city as far as I am concerned."
Pate said he does not believe there is any reason for the Legislature "to come in and control" what local governments are doing.
"We have been getting beat around the head and shoulders about some bills that affected Greensboro and Wake County," he said. "They say we taking away local governments' rights to control their own destinies. I don't think we need to get involved in Wayne County like that."
Pate said he does not plan to offer or support such an amendment. The Senate needs to discuss the bill as it came from the House, he said.
Any other discussion should between the county, Goldsboro and Mount Olive, he said.
"Go ahead and work that out right now and that would strengthen us passing the clean bill as I call," he said. "Local bills are usually ... the Senate and the House usually honor the local delegation for that county or city or whatever. I think the Senate would go along with what we recommend."
If for some reason the bill doe not pass before adjournment, it could be taken up during the next legislative session that begins in May, Pate said.
Davis could not be reached for comment.
As initially introduced by Bell, the bill would have increased Goldsboro's hotel occupancy tax from 5 to 6 percent as part of the deal to provide city funding for the county's proposed $16 million agriculture/convention center.
But that ran into opposition and the decision was made to switch to a countywide tax.
Getting the total up to 6 percent was to be able to divide the revenues by thirds between the city and county and for marketing travel and tourism in the county.
Under the terms of the agreement, the city would give the county 12 acres of land on North Wayne Memorial Drive on which to build the center. In exchange for the county increasing the size of the assembly area, the city agreed to ask for the occupancy tax increase and to provide 33 percent of the additional revenues for the first 20 years for the center and 25 percent thereafter.
That money would be used by the county to help fund the center and its operations.
The county would also loan Goldsboro $3 million at 1.5 percent interest over 15 years for the sports complex.