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Committee weighs using hotel‑motel tax room‑night increase to fund tourism projects; city contribution to CVB noted
Summary
Staff outlined existing economic development contracts and the city’s support for Visit Franklin; committee members urged consideration of raising the hotel‑motel tax (permissive up to 5%) to capture additional tourism revenue, and discussed a forthcoming Cool Springs conference center study.
Economic development staff reviewed the department’s partnerships and outside agency funding, including ongoing contracts with Williamson Inc., the chamber of commerce, and the Greater Nashville Regional Council. Michael (staff) said the city’s per‑capita contribution to regional development efforts remains stable.
Staff reported a forecasted FY‑26 transfer of roughly $1,547,000 to the convention and visitors bureau (CVB) — described as the city’s 1% share of the hotel‑motel tax allocation for Visit Franklin — and said the CVB’s total budget runs in the low millions including county and other contributions.
Committee discussion focused on whether to raise the city’s hotel‑motel tax (the city currently levies 4%, with permissive authority up to 5%). Several aldermen urged staff to bring back options and numbers for a work session and to consider using any new revenue for tourism planning or capital tied to tourism. One committee member said hoteliers he had spoken with were open to an additional dollar per room-night and two aldermen asked staff to include the option in the budget deliberations.
Staff also noted a pending study of the Cool Springs Conference Center and Hotel and said the operating agreement for the conference center expires in 2027; a study to inform future operations and potential business cases will begin soon with modest city and county contributions.
Ending: Committee members asked staff to include hotel‑motel tax options for work-session consideration as part of the broader budget discussion; no action was taken at the meeting.
