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Travel bureau tables hotel tax hike
By Shea Andersen Albuquerque tourism boosters are backing off a proposal to increase taxes on lodging. A 1 percent assessment had been proposed to bring in money for the Albuquerque Convention Center and for the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau to market the city. "It's not dead, but it's sleeping right now," said Mike Chesley, president of the board of the convention and visitors bureau. "We've pretty much missed our window to take anything to Santa Fe. It's not going to go to the Legislature this year." The convention and visitors bureau had proposed to add the 1 percent assessment to the city's legislative package that would have been presented to the Legislature next month. Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez's administration backed the idea, which would have brought an estimated $1.5 million per year. Half of that amount was earmarked for upgrading the convention center in Downtown. The other half would have gone to the convention and visitors bureau and the Hispano Chamber of Commerce for marketing the Albuquerque area to tourists. But the city is pursuing a plan to privatize the Convention Center and has put out a request for bids for that purpose. The convention and visitors bureau board had decided to let a group of hoteliers champion the new assessment, said Chesley. But for now, their work will have to wait. "It's been put on the back burner," said Chesley. The convention and visitors bureau Board of Directors will have a meeting of its executive committee Jan. 19, Chesley said. The idea had been supported by the Greater Albuquerque Innkeepers, who in November voted to support the fee proposal. But a statewide group, the New Mexico Lodging Association, opposes the idea. The group's lobbyists would have been working against it in the Legislature, said Art Bouffard, executive vice president of the association. Albuquerque charges a 5 percent lodging tax plus a 5.81 percent gross receipts tax for every room night. The proposed 1 percent fee would have increased Albuquerque's tax on hotel room stays to a total of 11.81 percent of a visitor's bill. Revenues from those taxes are used for general budget needs at the convention and visitors bureau. The money from the extra 1 percent would
have been used for marketing, not for staff or for expenses. |
