Denver reaps $4.2 million more through hotel tax increase

A guest post from regular Meetings Group writer Kay Carstens:

Ballot initiative 1A passed in Denver earlier this month boosting the lodging tax for Denver hotels by 1%, from 13.85 % of a hotel bill to 14.85% starting in 2006. In dollars, that's another $4.2 million a year. The Denver Metro CVB will use at least $2.5 million of the proceeds to market the expanded Colorado Convention Center and the Hyatt headquarters hotel. The DMCVB proposed and sponsored the ballot initiative, according to CVB President Richard Scharf. Downtown hotels got on the bandwagon despite the increase in room rates to guests, because a full convention center means increased hotel business. Taxpayers backed it because they won't have to pay it, and, as Scharf told the Business Journal, ""This tax affects only people staying in hotels," Scharf said. "So visitors pay a little more, and we benefit a lot."

From Sue: How many times have we heard this one before? Eventually, you end up cutting off your nose to spite your face with this kind of attitude toward visitors...