Tempe to rip off tourists with a 66% increase in hotel taxesThis is a tax to pay the police. Since these elections have very few people bother to vote in these elections the 1,500 cops that work for Tempe will all show up and vote for the tax and the tax will pass by a slim margin.And of course the Tempe Mayor and Tempe City Council members will say don't blame us for the tax, the voters approved it. Well that is a lie! The Tempe Mayor and Tempe City Council members put the tax on the ballot and it is their fault! Vote the theives out of office! Tempe Council will put bed tax increase to a March vote by Dianna M. Náñez - Nov. 21, 2009 09:38 AM The Arizona Republic Tempe has joined Scottsdale and will allow voters to decide in March whether to raise the city's bed tax on tourists by 2 percent to provide additional revenue for tourism marketing. On Thursday the council voted 6-0, with Councilwoman Onnie Shekerjian absent, to put the measure on a March 9 primary-election ballot. Scottsdale City Council approved a similar measure last month, asking voters to raise the city's combined hotel taxes-including state and city taxes-to 13.92 percent from 11.92 percent. If approved, Tempe's bed tax would be raised to 5 percent from 3 percent and the total hotel tax including state taxes would increase to 13.1 percent from 11.1 percent. The recession has resulted in less tourism and a decline in bed tax revenue. Tempe's bed tax revenue is on track to come in about $800,000 less than the $3.3 million projected would be collected this year. Tempe's agreement with the Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau allows the bureau to keep 2 percent of the bed-tax revenue collected. That funding is used to pay for tourism promotions. If voters approve the 2 percent increase, the tax could bring in an additional $1.7 million next year based on this fiscal year's revenue projections. Stephanie Nowack, Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau's president, said that the city's hotels support the tax increase. "They realize how important it is during this recession to invest in bringing tourism money in," she said.
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