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Edmond Life and Leisure - June 13, 2024

Tuesday June 18, holds an important vote opportunity for City of Edmond registered voters. In 1994, voters approved a 4% lodging tax on overnight stays at lodging properties inside Edmond City Limits that is still in place. Registered voters in Edmond will vote on a proposition to increase it to 6%. We proudly support the approval of this modernization of our lodging tax. Here is what I wrote in February, and it still applies:

This is not a tax that we in Edmond pay most of the time. It is paid by folks who come to Edmond and stay in our hotels, motels and short-term rental housing. In 1994, voters approved a 4% lodging tax on overnight stays at lodging properties inside Edmond City Limits that is still in place. Registered voters in Edmond will vote on a proposition to increase it to 6%.

Most of us have gotten multiple raises on our pay since 1994. It is unfair to continue to ask our good folks at Visit Edmond to continue to meet their goals at the same rate they were granted in 1994. People who stay the night in Edmond’s 13 hotels, one bed & breakfast and more than 150 short-term rentals located inside Edmond city limits pay this tax.

We travel a bit, and I can tell you that even at 6% it is lower than any tax or fees I see on my bill for lodging. Most cities have gone way beyond a hotel and motel tax. They add resort fees, tourism fees and more to your night’s stay. We are blessed not to have to make a decision on travel based on these fees, but I still think they are too much. Edmond only has the one lodging tax and an increase of 2% is not out of line as an increase.

Revenue from the visitor tax is used by Visit Edmond, a city department, to market Edmond as a destination and attract new meetings and events to increase economic impact. It funds tourism efforts within the city of Edmond and nearby attractions to encourage overnight stays.

When visitors come to Edmond, they generate sales tax dollars that benefit the city of Edmond and its residents through projects like road improvements, new parks and much more. My friend Steve Kreidler put it best when he said that tourism dollars are the best because, "People come to town, leave their money and then go home.” Visitors do not require growth of infrastructure, police or fire budgets. They visit our shops, eat in our restaurants and fill up their cars with gas which all generates revenue for the city without providing new housing and causing zoning changes.

What are the numbers?

On a $100 room, the current visitor tax of 4% charges visitors $4 per night. Under the proposal, this cost would increase to $6, using the $100room example. Passage of the proposal is projected to add $350,000 annually for tourism development and opportunities. I cannot remember the last time I paid only $100 for a room but you get the idea. The increase is not so much that it would keep people from coming here because of the price but provides the funds to increase the number of folks coming to visit.

How much is lodging tax in cities around us?

Edmond’s current visitor tax is the lowest in our region. Oklahoma City is 5.5% but residents will be voting soon to increase it to 9.25%. That put us well under OKC lodging tax it that passes and keeps us competitive. Guthrie and Stillwater are 7% and Norman is 8%. It is time we brought our rate up to the area standards and allowed Visit Edmond to do the work they can do for us. It is amazing the work and success they have had on such a limited budget, so they need for voters to let them get to their full potential with more funding. And it is funding that we do not pay for the most part.

How will the dollars be used?

Marketing Edmond as a destination for visitors with new branding and more out of our area advertising dollars. Develop and implement a robust sports tourism strategy to promote Edmond facilities as a destination for local, regional and national sports tournaments. (KickingBird Golf, Edmond Center Court, A.C. Caplinger, MAC, Pelican Bay, Service Blake Soccer Complex, Edmond 66 Park)

Provide sponsorships to attract, retain and sustain conferences and events.

Partner with Edmond facilities to bid on NEW events. For example: Regional Conferences like Great Plains AMBUCS that came to the Edmond Conference Center. Bidding on the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships during May 17-21, 2027, and the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Tennis championships during May 18-23, 2027. Supporting UCO to keep the OSSAA State High School Football Championship.

I served on the Visit Edmond advisory board for almost a decade. I took myself off two years ago only because I felt we needed younger minds to take our tourism to the next level. As an accountant I can tell you that Visit Edmond are good stewards of their funds and that 100% of this increase will go directly to their work and not be taken away for other purposes.

The organization has had good leadership in the past and their current leader, Jennifer Thornton, is clear on her vision and what can be accomplished with the increased funds. She also has a skill set to bring folks together as does her staff. It is time to

modernize our lodging tax. Hopefully, we can take the funding restrictions off of Visit Edmond and give them the opportunity to increase our tourism to help our businesses prosper.

Requirements for office

Sometime back I wrote a column saying we should look at the requirements for our state offices. They were written around the beginning of time and were meant for citizen representatives and to open the offices up and not exclude those without much of an education. I get that but it is time for a change. Most of us would expect it to be a requirement for our State Attorney General to be a lawyer. It is not.

The issue has raised its ugly head in the primary race before sitting U.S. Rep Tom Cole and opponent Paul L. Bondar. The broadcast stations have been full of a fight between the two with Cole being the front runner and practically a legend in Oklahoma politics. Voters in that district need to vote for Cole, hands down and send this other guy packing back to Texas. It is not an Edmond district but could happen here with the loose requirements. Cole actually faces three additional Republican primary challengers.

Here is the constitutional requirement: United States Representative United States Constitution, Article I, Section 2, Clause 2: “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.”

There should be at least a requirement for the candidate to live in the house district or the state for a year for senate before being eligible for those offices. Changing the federal requirements might be next to impossible but the next governor of Oklahoma needs to appoint a committee to look at state office requirements and get those updated to meet modern needs.

(Ray Hibbard may be reached for comment at ray@edmondpaper.com.)

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