In the growing city of Mansfield, Texas, hotels charge guests a bed tax of 13 percent, which is then put into a fund to help boost tourism initiatives to the city. And with six new hotels opening in the city in recent years, the fund is expected to reach to reach $510,000 during the 2013-14 fiscal year.
According to the Mansfield News Mirror, the application process for obtaining these funds has been tweaked to better serve the hotel community.
State law requires hotel-motel taxes to be used to attract tourists and establishes a wide range of specific uses, including the arts, historic preservation and the construction and operation of tourism and convention centers. ““We want to make sure there is an adequate return of hotel-motel tax dollars.” said Mansfield Mayor David Cook.
Steve Cosio, president of Discover Historic Mansfield, an organization that has received funding from hotel-motel taxes in the past says that the streamlined application process will help with the goal of drawing more tourists to the city. “It’s making the groups who are requesting funds more accountable for putting heads in beds,” he said. “We will continue to fill out those forms any way they ask us.”
