Midwest City holds town hall on proposed hotel/motel tax increase

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

Midwest City residents gathered recently for a town hall meeting to discuss a proposed increase in the city’s hotel/motel tax. Voters will decide on the measure during a special election on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

City Manager Tim Lyon provided details on the proposed tax, its projected uses, and how it would impact residents and local businesses.

Lyon emphasized that the proposed tax would not affect Midwest City residents staying in local hotels.

“If you’re a Midwest City resident, you are not required to pay the hotel/motel tax. So this ballot issue will not affect anyone that lives in Midwest City as far as being taxed, any new taxes or additional taxes,” Lyon said.

The proposal would increase the city’s hotel/motel tax rate from 5% to 9.25%. It would match Oklahoma City’s rate and be slightly higher than Moore and Norman, which are both at 8%. The tax is expected to generate about $1.325 million annually, an increase of about $608,000. The new revenue would be split between economic development (45%) and parks and recreation (55%).

The hotel/motel tax is charged on gross receipts for overnight sleeping accommodations in a hotel, motel, or short-term rental.

“Once again, coming from outside residents, outside visitors,” Lyon said.

Economic Development

City leaders highlighted the importance of using these funds to attract new businesses and maintain infrastructure.

“Most of the ways we attract new business is through infrastructure. To have new business, you have to have infrastructure in place, and that’s what a lot of economic development money goes to,” Lyon said.

Ward 2 Councilman Pat Byrne noted that sales tax is critical to the city’s budget.

“If we don’t dedicate money to the economic development process in Midwest City, Midwest City will dry up, because that’s where we get 99, 98% of our monies comes from sales tax generated. We don’t get anything off the property taxes,” Byrne said.

He also highlighted sports tourism as a growing revenue source, pointing to the city’s multi-sport complexes.

“Here in the next two years, the Olympics are coming. They’re telling people hotel rooms are going to be full from here to Dallas. We need to take advantage of that… we have become a sports tourism town,” Byrne said.

Parks and Recreation Needs

Lyon stressed the need for additional funding for park maintenance and upgrades. Midwest City has 35 parks, including recent additions such as the expansion of Mid-America Park and W.P. Bill Atkinson Park.

“With that number of parks, with the infrastructure that we have built, we have not added any additional funding for maintenance. These parks have all been put in place, and there has not been one penny that we have budgeted for maintenance into these parks, any new additional dollars, new funding source,” Lyon said.

Specific projects needing attention include the Reno Swim & Slide and the Joe B. Barnes Regional Park playground, which is more than 24 years old.

“We budgeted, with the council approval, roughly a million dollars for that project [new playground equipment at Regional Park], and that’s probably not going to touch it, but we’re at least going to get that started,” Lyon said.

The city is also completing a parks and trails master plan to identify priorities for maintenance and improvements.

“We’re going to go into what is the biggest need for the people, the residents of the city, and that’s what’s going to get funded,” Byrne said.

Community Feedback

Residents at the meeting raised concerns about the impact of the tax on local hotels and businesses. One woman questioned whether increasing the hotel/motel tax could discourage visitors.

Officials countered that the tax would support sports and recreation tourism, ultimately bringing more business to hotels.

“We are helping hotels and motels by providing the sports complex, the MAC and the Reed Ballpark,” Byrne said. “We’re bringing people into the city for tournaments. If we didn’t have the tournaments, there’d be vacant nights in the hotels. So, I understand where you’re coming from, but we’re not hurting them. We’re getting them more business, in my opinion.”

Other residents emphasized the importance of community involvement in park maintenance.

“One of the neighborhoods… reached out to us in preparation for the parks master plan… they’ve actually been trying to do some fundraising for about eight months,” said Josh Ryan, communications and recreation director.

Looking Ahead

City leaders stressed that the tax increase would allow Midwest City to invest in infrastructure, parks, and economic development without taxing residents.

“This is an opportunity for our city, and it’s not going to cost any of our taxpayers additional dollars, and we will use this money very wisely and for the benefit of Midwest City,” Lyon said.

The election on the proposed hotel/motel tax increase is scheduled for Nov. 18. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.