Voters in Lincoln City will decide in November whether to increase the city’s lodging tax.
The tax on hotels, B&B’s and vacation rentals would go from 9.5% to 12% under the proposal. That rate would be almost double what Lincoln City charged when the lodging tax was first approved by voters in 1991. But it would put it on par with other Lincoln County beach destinations such as Newport and Depoe Bay. Both of those cities increased their lodging tax within the past year, although both did so via a city council vote rather than turning the decision over to voters.
City councilors in Lincoln City decided to place the tax hike on the ballot during a mid-August meeting. Some council members objected, saying the public and the business community wasn’t involved in the conversation.
But council member Mitch Parsons said that’s why the proposal is going to the voters. “Putting this on the ballot and having a vote of the people is probably the biggest public involvement we can actually get out of it,” he said.
The city estimates the higher tax would bring in an additional $2.7 million a year. Under state law, the majority of revenues received from a "transient lodging tax" must be used to either promote tourism or to make improvements to facilities that serve tourists.
According to an explanatory statement filed in the Lincoln County voters pamphlet, some of the money raised by the higher lodging tax would go toward building a new visitors center at D River.
The city is proposing to use the remaining money to fund "essential city services, such as narcotics enforcement," according to the council-approved resolution that created the ballot measure.
"It is appropriate to require visitors, who place additional demand on these city services, to pay a share of the services," read the resolution.
The council voted 4-2 to put the tax increase on the ballot. One member who voted against the resolution, Rick Mark, said he would have supported a smaller increase.
"I think ten-and-a-half would fly much more easily than 12 percent," he said. "And I think (it would be) much easier for us to justify."
In addition to the rate imposed by cities or counties, the state of Oregon also levies a 1.5% lodging tax.
