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Altus council adopts 5% hotel excise tax, names collection agents
Summary
The City of Altus City Council on a unanimous vote adopted Ordinance 2025-17 to levy a 5% excise tax on hotel room receipts, and passed two resolutions designating collecting agents for the new tax.
The City of Altus City Council on a unanimous vote adopted Ordinance 2025-17 to levy a 5% excise tax on gross receipts from occupants of hotel rooms, directing the use of proceeds for economic development and tourism enhancement.
The ordinance amends the city code to add Article 3 to Chapter 27 and sets requirements for operators to separately designate the tax on bills, keep records, file returns and remit payments. The ordinance also includes provisions for exemptions listed in the text, assessment and refund processes, penalties for fraudulent returns, and an emergency clause making the ordinance immediately effective pending voter approval where required by law.
Council members also adopted two related resolutions. Resolution 2025-20 repealed an earlier resolution and allows the Oklahoma Tax Commission to serve as a collecting agent for municipal lodging taxes. Resolution 2025-21 names and authorizes the city clerk‑treasurer to act as the city’s collecting agent for municipal lodging taxes in administrative matters.
Council discussion on the item was brief. Council members moved to waive the reading of the ordinance before taking the final adoption vote.
Vote: Motion and second were offered; the roll-call votes recorded in the meeting transcript show yes responses from Austin Leverett, Roberta Brady Lee, Sally Maines, Cody Nelson, Joel Jinx and Robert Garrison during the final adoption call for the ordinance and the related resolutions (transcript vote sequence). The transcript did not identify the motion mover or seconder by name for the final adoption votes.
Why it matters: The new tax creates a recurring local revenue stream earmarked for tourism and economic development projects; the administrative resolutions change the collection pathway and assign local administrative authority to the clerk‑treasurer.
What’s next: The ordinance text contains provisions requiring approval at an election where required by law; the council also authorized the administrative steps to implement collection and record-keeping.
