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"The hotel management and owners of Germantown's hotel properties wish to express our disappointment that the village government continues to fail to appropriately reinvest the room taxes that we collect from visitors to Germantown," the group says in a letter sent to trustees.

The four hotels are the AmericInn, Holiday Inn Express, Country Inn & Suites and Super 8.

"It is our understanding that room tax legislation was enacted to provide a funding source for tourism promotion in the communities that create the tax," the letter says. "This is not being done in Germantown."

The village estimates it will collect $237,000 from the hotels in 2000, according to a preliminary budget.

About 12% of the lodging taxes, or $27,650, will be set aside in a Community Betterment Fund, which provides grants to the local historical society and other groups. The remaining $209,350 will go into the general fund and help pay for village services.

The hotels also pay property taxes that help finance sewer, water, police, fire and other municipal services.

Germantown first enacted a 5% tax on lodging costs in 1988. The tax was boosted to 6% in 1997. A state law requires that municipalities spend 70% of new room taxes or increases enacted after Jan. 1, 1994, on tourism marketing.

The village established the Community Betterment Fund to comply with the law, Village Administrator Paul Brandenburg said. The projected amount of $27,650 going to the fund in 2000 equals 70% of the tax increase.

Glenn Koch, manager of the Super 8 Hotel, said the group has asked to meet with the board prior to its final budget meeting Nov. 15. The hotels are seeking a more equitable distribution of the funds in next year's budget.

"We want to find a happy medium for everybody," Koch said.

"We've never had a chance as a group of hotels to sit down and talk to the Village Board," said Dennis Gress, AmericInn manager. "We'd like to work with them in selecting an appropriate dollar figure" for promoting tourism opportunities in the village.

Gaining Village Board approval of their request likely will be a hard sell, however.

Village President Charles Hargan was in the minority a year ago when he asked the board to set aside 25% of the lodging revenue for the local chamber of commerce. He suggested then that the chamber could spend the money on marketing local attractions.

"I think some of these funds should go directly to the chamber," Hargan said.

"If we spent more for tourism and promotion, that would reduce general revenues and require a modest property tax rate increase," said Trustee Thomas Stauffacher, chairman of the Village Board's General Government and Finance Committee.

"That's why I've resisted any change up to this point.

"And the village already has done so much to promote development in Germantown, with investments in industrial parks and the reconstruction of Main St. next year. All of those things will benefit hotels in Germantown."

Philip Fritsche, executive director of the Germantown Chamber of Commerce, agrees that more money should be spent on promoting the village's tourist attractions.

In August, the finance committee rejected Fritsche's request to set aside $10,000 per year in a tourism account beginning in 2000. Fritsche recommended that the fund be administered by an independent commission made up of village trustees and representatives of local businesses.

Last week, the finance committee gave preliminary approval to spend $5,000 from the Community Betterment Fund on a countywide marketing program proposed by the Washington County Tourism Association.

Final approval is contingent on the association submitting a business plan to the village early next year, Stauffacher said. "We want to make sure this project will benefit Germantown," he said. "Then we will seek the approval of the full Village Board."