Hays commission opts to keep pillow tax at 5 percent

By NICK BUDD
Hays Post

During Thursday’s Hays City Commission meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution that raisedd the transient guest tax from 4 percent to 5 percent. The tax is charged, along with the regular sales tax, on all hotel and motel rooms rented in the city limits.

The transient guest tax was passed in 2006 to help fund the Hays Welcome Center on Vine Street. It included a stipulation that dropped the rate from 5 percent to 4 percent once the center was paid off, which happened in October, four years ahead of schedule. The resolution also allows the city commission to adjust the rate at their discretion.

The income from the transient guest tax will be used to fund marketing materials, advertisement for the Hays Regional Airport, wayfinding signs, quality-of-life agencies, including half of the Downtown Development Corp., and other marketing events around the community.

“According to state statute, the transient guest tax can be used to promote your community, pay for things that help bring tourists to your community, and to help facilitate tourists while they’re in the community,” said City Manager Toby Dougherty. “Taking some of these costs out of the general fund would provide more monies in the future for police, fire, parks and other general fund expenditures.”

Dougherty also mentioned hotel stays in the city have “increased steadily” over the past couple of years.

Commissioner Kent Steward said that even though he is generally against tax increases, he believes the transient guest tax is a good way to fund these types of ventures.

“People in Hays won’t pay this, and we’re right on the interstate so it would be foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity to generate some funds,” Steward said. “People who visit Hays and stay in motels use a lot of city services, so there’s nothing unreasonable about taxing them a little bit.”

With the increase, the city has one of the lowest transient guest tax rates when compared to comparable cities around the state. In a list released by the city, the only town with a lower rate is Russell, which has a TGT rate of 4 percent.