Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Senate to vote today on hotel tax
Roeding says bill will pass
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FRANKFORT — Backers of a proposal that would allow an increase in Northern Kentucky's hotel tax received a mixed message Tuesday when the Kentucky Senate voted on a similar increase for Fayette County.
Legislation allowing a 1 percentage point increase in Fayette County's 4 percent tax passed the Senate 25 to 3, but two of Northern Kentucky's four state senators — Republicans Katie Stine of Fort Thomas and Ernie Harris of Crestwood — voted against the bill.
Those supporting the local-increase legislation were closely watching Tuesday's vote as a harbinger of how the Senate might vote on Northern Kentucky's proposed tax increase. A vote is scheduled for today.
“I think we have the votes
to pass the bill,” Senate President Pro Tem Dick Roeding, R-Lakeside Park, said of the Northern Kentucky legislation. “We of course won't know until the vote is taken, but I got a show of hands in our Republican caucus (Tuesday), and I'm pretty sure the votes are there.”
Mr. Roeding and Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Erlanger, voted for the increase in Fayette County's tax, which would be used to improve and expand Lexington's convention center.
The hotel tax for Northern Kentucky has been one of the most contentious local issues lawmakers have dealt with in this session of the General Assembly.
The bill allowing the increase won't actually raise the tax. That still must be done by the fiscal courts in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties. But the legislature must approve a bill giving the fiscal courts the authority to raise the tax to 5 percent from 4 percent.
The estimated $1 million a year raised by the proposed tax increase would be used by the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau to market the region, including Cincinnati, for tourism and convention business.
Cincinnati is planning an expansion of its downtown convention center, and backers of the increase, including the hospitality industry, say bringing more convention business to Cincinnati will result in more business for Northern Kentucky hotels, motels, restaurants, bars and stores.
But opponents are against raising taxes and don't want money raised in Kentucky spent touting Cincinnati.
To help win support of the bill, business leaders and elected officials from Northern Kentucky plan to be in Frankfort today to lobby for the legislation.
“We want to show this is something the business community and our leaders are backing and something that will help the economy in Northern Kentucky,” said Steve Stevens, head lobbyist for the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
The bill has passed the Kentucky House.
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