KENT COUNTY, Mich. —
Backers of the proposed visitors tax in Kent County said there is a misleading text and billboard campaign targeting voters ahead of the Aug. 6 vote.
Some residents are confused about how the tax works. The tax is a visitor tax, meaning it’s paid by people outside of the county. Kara Wood, Grand Action Executive Director, said residents won’t see the tax unless they spend the night in a local hotel or motel.
“More than 90% of that tax gets paid by folks outside of Kent County and outside of the greater Kent region,” she said. “So that is an important aspect for voters to know that it's not a tax that they pay directly unless they're staying in hotels in Kent County.”
The groups also want to clear up misinformation about the increase in rate and cost of hotel rooms.
The proposal would increase lodging tax in the county from 5-percent to 8-percent. That would look like a $3.72 increase on a hotel room that’s $120 a night.
Andy Johnston, with the Grand Rapids Chamber, said the increase would put the region on par with its peer cities.
“Our total lodging tax, again, is going to be similar to places like Cincinnati and Cleveland and Nashville and other cities that we compete with,” he said.
With the increased funding, the money would go to the new Grand Rapids amphitheater project, a potential soccer stadium and other projects.
“So these assets that this tax would be used to help finance are publicly owned assets. So the Convention Arena Authority is an organization that's overseen by Kent County and City of Grand Rapids. That body is the owner, operator and maintainer of these assets in much the same way the arena and the convention center are,” Wood said. “So these are publicly owned assets that are funded by visitor-paid taxes.”
But with these new destination areas, Johnston wants to assure it won’t impact county commuters.
“There's been a lot of misinformation about parking related to this proposal,” Johnston said. “There is plenty of parking that's coming with the amphitheater.”
For more information on the lodging proposal on August’s ballot, you can visit yesdestinationkent.org.