Public hearing set on hotel tax
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 18, 2015 1:50 AM
Wayne County commissioners appear poised to enact a 1 percent countywide hotel occupancy tax when they meet Tuesday morning.
But state law requires that commissioners first hold a public hearing -- a hearing scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Tuesday in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the Wayne County Courthouse Annex.
The meeting will begin with an agenda briefing at 8 a.m. followed by the formal session at 9 a.m.
And along with enacting the tax, the board also is expected to approve an amended agreement with Goldsboro that prompted the need for the tax to begin with.
The final step in getting the tax in place is the creation of a 12-member Wayne County Tourism Development Authority that will oversee how the money is spent.
County Manager George Wood has recommended that the tax's effective date be Dec. 1.
He has also recommended the following initial appointments to the authority beginning Jan. 1: Erin Wilmot, Commissioner Bill Pate, voting ex-officio member, commissioner or county manager, voting ex-officio member and hotel operator, all three-year terms; Wayne County Chamber of Commerce president, voting ex-officio member, two-year term, Gretchen Reed, Mary Ann Dudley and Lynn Hagerty, two-year terms; and Ashlin Glatther, commissioner appointee, Goldsboro city manager, voting ex-officio member; Goldsboro mayor, voting ex-officio member, all one-year terms.
Members, who will be appointed by commissioners, will serve three-year terms. The initial appointments are for different lengths in order that the terms can be staggered.
The city already has a nine-member tourism council. However, the county and city are recommending the membership be increased to 12 so that the two tourism boards mirror each other.
The journey to Tuesday's action started in March when county and city officials announced an agreement that hinged on increasing the city's hotel occupancy tax from 5 to 6 percent.
The idea was that the increase would enable the tax revenues to be divided into thirds between the city and county and for marketing travel and tourism in the county.
The agreement called for the city to give 12 acres of land on North Wayne Memorial Drive to the county as the site for the county's planned agricultural and convention center.
In return for the county agreeing to increase the size of the assembly area, the city asked for the occupancy tax increase and agreed to provide 33 percent of the additional revenues for the first 20 years for the center and 25 percent thereafter.
The money would be used by the county to help fund the center and its operations.
Under the revised agreement for the first 20 years, 40 percent of the 5 percent levy will go to the county to offset construction, debt service, and operating expenses for the Wayne Regional Agricultural and Convention Center.
After the first 20 years, the percentage will drop to 30 percent.
The city will use 40 percent of the 5 percent levy to offset the expenses to construct, operate and maintain tourism-related facilities.
Also for the first 20 years, 20 percent of the 5 percent will be used by the city's Travel and Tourism Council for tourist-related marketing of facilities and events, including for the Wayne Regional Agricultural and Convention Center.
Under the agreement, the county will loan Goldsboro $3 million at 1.5 percent interest over 15 years for its multi-sports complex.
The county also will contribute $200,000 to the city for the purchase or renovation of the former Goldsboro Country Club.
The tax hit roadblocks both in the General Assembly and in Mount Olive.
To comply with state travel and tourism guidelines the tax was switched from a city tax to a county one.
But that ran into opposition from the owners of the Sleep Inn in Mount Olive.
A compromise was reached and the tax revenues generated in Mount Olive will be placed into two separate accounts -- one for the town and one for the county with 70 percent of the total amount collected earmarked for Mount Olive.
The authority will hold those revenues as reserve funds for the town until such time as it submits a request for all or part of the funds.
The money can only be used to promote travel and tourism within the town.
None of the city's revenues from its 5 percent levy may be used to market any event within Mount Olive.
Wood said that the countywide tax still meets the original intent of their agreement, but that the original agreement must be amended to reflect the change.