Thursday, February 10, 2000
Hotel-tax backers may get say
'Enabling' bill could be key
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FRANKFORT — Backers of a proposed increase in Northern Kentucky's hotel tax that would be used to help pay for an expansion of Cincinnati's convention center may finally get their proposal before the Kentucky General Assembly.
Supporters of the 1-cent increase — mainly the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and area hotel operators — have been unable to find a Northern Kentucky law maker willing to sponsor a bill that would allow fiscal courts in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties to raise the tax.
Most Northern Kentucky lawmakers have backed away from the bill because many of them have signed pledges not to vote for tax increases. There is also concern about increasing the tax to raise $10 million over the next decade to help pay for a project in another state.
But Steve Stevens, head lobbyist for the chamber, is trying to win support for filing the room tax measure as part of legislation sponsored by a western Kentucky lawmaker. That bill, filed by Rep. Charlie Geveden, D-Wickliffe, would allow second-class cities such as Paducah, Bowling Green and Owensboro to increase hotel taxes.
Mr. Stevens met with Northern Kentucky lawmakers Wednesday trying to sell them on the idea that spending money on expanding Cincinnati's convention center would mean business for Northern Kentucky hotels, restaurants, bars and businesses.
“Folks have been concerned that we might be sending money out of our own area ... to promote ourselves,” Mr. Stevens said. “We're already doing that through joint marketing promotions the region has with the Cincinnati Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.”
The bill also affords a way for lawmakers to support it without technically voting on a tax increase, Mr. Stevens said.
Mr. Geveden's bill is what is known in the General Assembly as “enabling” legislation, meaning the legislation does not raise taxes. Instead, the bill “enables” local governments, such as fiscal courts, to raise the tax.
Twenty hotels and three of Northern Kentucky's largest cities — Covington, Newport and Fort Thomas — are on record supporting the increase.
Support among local lawmakers may now be building. Rep. Paul Marcotte, R-Union, a staunch fiscal conservative who has signed a no-tax pledge and was previously against the hotel tax, said he is giving it another look.
“I'm still not committing to anything because I haven't seen the amendment or the bill,” Mr. Marcotte said Wednesday. “But at least with the concept of enabling legislation, I may have a different view on the bill.”
House Majority Caucus Chairman Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, said he has no problem with the bill.
“Projects like the stadiums on (Cincinnati's) riverfront and the convention center mean a lot of people going to Cincinnati will eat in Northern Kentucky restaurants, stay in hotels in Northern Kentucky and spend money in our retail outlets,” Mr. Callahan said.
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