By Matthew Hill
OAK HILL — If you find yourself paying a few extra dollars to stay at New River Inn or Holiday Inn while visiting Oak Hill, there is a logical explanation — city council members Monday evening passed the second reading of a hike in the hotel-motel tax. On a positive note, the move could result in improvements to White Oak Rails-to-Trails.
Overcoming Jeff Atha’s opposition and John Dixon’s absence, city council approved a doubling of the fee — from three percent to six percent.
Councilman-at-large Bill Hannabass had previously voiced strong skepticism about the idea, but his concerns were allayed at the September meeting when council members passed a first reading of the increase earmarking one-fourth of revenues for White Oak Rails-to-Trails. That position was reiterated in Monday’s vote.
The New River Convention and Visitors Bureau is already entitled to half of all revenues from the hotel-motel tax. At last month’s meeting, a tourism official told council members that the return on money invested in trails is usually quadruple the original amount.
Anti-tax stalwarts Atha and Hannabass later joined forces in unsuccessfully opposing the first reading of an increase in the television cable franchise fee. The hike from three percent to five percent was passed on a vote of 3-2.
Responding to a question from the public, city manager Tom Oxley said that the increase would likely be passed on to consumers.
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In other business, council members:
- Unanimously voted to prohibit on-street parking on Bunch Street.
- Adopted a proclamation endorsing the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as a prerequisite to obtaining an $84,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which they later voted to accept.
NIMS requires city officials to take classes and training from instructors to be aware of what breakdowns exist in response to potential emergencies. Tim Richardson told council members that both the fire department and the police department have been certified by NIMS.
- All agreed on a second reading to not allow a call-in vote by any council member.
- Set Oct. 31 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. as the date and times for trick-or-treat. Children up to and including 12 years of age are eligible to participate.
— E-mail:
mhill@register-herald.com
