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Hotel tax seen as one way to boost village revenue at the Falls
By Betsy Thatcher Menomonee Falls- The village must look for new sources of revenue to fund services in the future, including trying to attract more hotels to the community, officials said Monday. Trustee Michael McDonald encouraged the Village Board to "aggressively seek more hotels" because that would increase the amount of room tax the village would receive. Many surrounding communities derive "large portions of their (municipal) budgets" from room taxes, McDonald said. The village will receive about $35,000 this year in room taxes. Officials expect to collect about the same amount next year. With the construction of new office parks in the village, the community could handle several new hotel or motel developments, McDonald said. The village has been collecting a room tax from hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts since 1984. The tax amounts to 5% of a hotel's gross receipts. Village Trustee Jacque Sommers suggested the board also consider raising the room tax. The discussion came up during the board's deliberations on a 2000 municipal budget. Under the 2000 budget approved by the board Monday, village spending will rise by 4.3%, from $23,486,035 in 1999 to $24,500,148 in 2000. The tax levy is $15,450,000, a 4.7% increase over the last levy of $14,751,643. The tax rate for village purposes will be $7.25 per $1,000 of assessed value, a 2.7% increase from last year's rate of $7.06. Under the new tax rate, the owner of a home with an assessed value of $150,000 will pay about $1,088 in village taxes for 2000. That owner paid about $1,059 for 1999. In another matter Monday, the board approved unanimously a resolution opposing a citizen group's alternative plan to the proposed widening of state Highway 164 in Waukesha and Washington counties. A group of property owners who live along Highway 164 are vigorously opposing a state proposal to widen a stretch of the road between Pewaukee and the Town of Polk to four lanes. The group has submitted a proposal to the state Department of Transportation that involves building a road between Highway K in Menomonee Falls and the Lannon Road interchange at U.S. Highway 41/45 in Germantown. The group wants to see a road built there instead of having 164 widened. |
