Lodging tax passes

Governor Mark Gordon has said he will be signing only one tax bill that comes to his desk. That is House Bill 134, also known as the Five Percent Lodging Tax.

Once it’s signed into law, House Bill 134 will set a tax rate of five percent on all lodging in Wyoming, including short term rentals like those on AirBnB. It will allow for an additional county specific two percent tax, on top of the five percent, for a total of seven percent if voters in a county choose it.

This would amount to a three percent increase over what hotel guests pay in Wyoming now. Currently, Wyoming counties select their own lodging tax rates, between two and four percent. Every county in Wyoming currently has at least a two percent lodging tax.

Carbon County is set at two percent.

Revenue from the statewide lodging tax would be split between the Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT) and the counties where the revenue originated. The tourism office currently depends on support from the State’s general fund for its operations, which involves promoting Wyoming’s tourism industry.

The lodging tax will act as a dedicated funding source and the WOT will no longer need fiscal support from the state’s general fund. Counties’ reliance on state funds will decrease, too. This, in turn, will free up money to be spent on other public needs. State economists estimate the new lodging tax will generate approximately $19 million a year. Out-of-state visitors will cover an estimated 85 percent of that cost.

Support for the statewide lodging tax comes from several sectors, including the tourism industry itself. When the Senate Appropriations Committee considered the bill earlier last week, on February 25, the meeting room was filled with people from the hospitality industry.

During this time, Senate District 11, which includes Carbon County, Senator Larry Hicks put forth an amendment that he said would help Wyoming address education funding deficits.

Under the proposed legislation he introduced, 80 percent of the statewide lodging tax would be deposited into the Wyoming tourism account, which the legislature would have to appropriate in order for the WOT to spend. The other 20 percent would go to support the state’s school foundation program account.

Senate District 12 Senator Liisa Anselmi-Dalton opposed the amendment because lodging tax dollars are meant to support the tourism industry. Senate District 28 Senator Jim Anderson agreed, noting that tourism is the second largest industry in the state and that it could grow to become the largest in 10-20 years.

“This bill never was for school funding,” he said. “We don’t need to strip this from the tourism group.”

The Senate rejected Hicks’ amendment.

House Bill 143 was passed on February 28, 16-13-1. Hicks voted against the bill.

The passing of the Lodging Tax made Saratoga Carbon County Visitor Council representative Danny Burau happy. He said the investment in tourism is important at this time because Wyoming needs to grow the industry as other industries take a hit. Burau said Wyoming is well suited for growing its share of visitors that are looking for the real Western experience.

“Wyoming is on trend for everything people want in travel right now,” Burau said. “Authenticity is what travelers want but we have to get the message that Wyoming is what they are looking for. To do this means having a strong branding of our state.”

He said states like Utah, Colorado, South Dakota and Montana are spending more than Wyoming now to get the same message out.

“Montana is already known to a lot of young people traveling and South Dakota has been spending a lot of marketing dollars to get their message out there,” Burau said. “When I lived in Colorado, I didn’t know much about Wyoming but, once I got here, I fell in love. There is so much potential for tourism and its economic benefits, it is crazy not to fund the Wyoming Office of Tourism in the strongest manner we can. People who don’t want to support an industry that does so much for the state confuses me.”