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Commissioners consider hotel-motel tax vote By Dani Dodge Jackson County commissioners are considering placing a hotel and motel tax on the ballot, possibly as soon as November. "The majority of the people who would pay the tax are out-of-state folks," said Commissioner Ric Holt. "I�m against taxes, but when you are looking at making travelers pay for some of the services we provide, I�m in favor of that." Commissioners discussed the tax at a staff meeting Thursday, concluding they are interested in getting more information on the possibility of a lodging tax that would be paid by guests at staying outside local cities. From Applegate Lodge to Union Creek Resort � and with a couple of bed and breakfast inns in between � there are 309 rooms being rented in the unincorporated areas of the county. Preliminary estimates indicate that a 6 percent tax could bring in nearly $259,000 a year. A 9 percent tax would generate $388,000. (Those projections don�t include the costs of implementing and collecting the tax.) The issue came up after an Ashland citizen asked Commissioner Jack Walker to look into the possibility. Currently, cities like Ashland and Medford have a hotel and motel tax and guests at unincorporated lodgings get what some say amounts to a tax break. "The county doesn�t even have a business license (fee)," Walker said. "And when you look at those things � certainly a motel and hotel tax makes a little more sense." As of 1995, 14 of Oregon�s 36 counties had a transient lodging tax, according to a spokesman at the League of Oregon Counties. The taxes range from 6 to 8 percent, and some counties have smaller tax rates that are added to city tax rates. So far, Jackson County officials haven�t decided where the money would go � but the county faces a financial problems in the next two years with the loss of federal money from timber-cutting. The lodging tax revenue could fund special projects, or parks, or it could go into the county�s general fund. Commissioners also haven�t decided whether the potential tax would affect all hotels and motels in the unincorporated areas of the county, or just those that operate year-round. Walker said a tax on year-round inns and hotels might be the best route. Walker said he�s concerned about taxing Jackson County residents who stay at places like Fish Lake and Howard Prairie during the summer. "People in our community rent those and I hate to establish a fee on those people," Walker said. County estimates show that a 6 percent tax on seasonal units alone would bring in $46,000; a 9 percent tax $69,000. Walker asked County Administrator Sue Slack to look into the ratio of local to out-of-county residents who stay in seasonal lodgings. "I don�t want to establish another tax on local people," Walker said. The commissioners asked Slack to get more definitive revenue estimates, find if there are any restrictions on how the money would be spent, and find out how other counties spend hotel and motel taxes. Commissioner Sue Kupillas noted: "I�m willing to continue looking at this because it was brought up by constituents." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA