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Resident tells Rhea County commission hotel/motel tax "looks a lot like a slush fund"
Summary
During public comment, Joe Page urged commissioners to change how hotel/motel tax receipts are split, proposing 50% for marketing, 25% for roads and 25% discretionary county use; he criticized current spending as unfair to hospitality vendors.
During the public‑comment portion of the meeting, Mr. Joe Page addressed the commission about the county’s hotel/motel tax, saying the way funds are currently spent disadvantages hospitality vendors and lacks transparency.
"It looks a lot like a slush fund," Page said, arguing that the original concept — using the tax primarily for advertising and marketing to bring visitors — has been diluted. He said hotel operators still shoulder the burden because local price changes generally reduce their net receipts: "If I charge them a $100 a night for a hotel room and there's no hotel and motel tax, then I put $100 in my pocket. When there's a hotel and motel tax, I put 95 in my pocket. So it's gonna be coming out of my pocket." Page proposed a distribution model that would allocate roughly 50% of receipts to marketing and advertising, 25% to highway and road repairs and 25% for discretionary county use.
No formal commission vote on altering the hotel/motel tax split was recorded at the meeting. Chair Linda Stainson and commissioners acknowledged the comment during the meeting’s budget and fund discussions but did not adopt Page’s proposed percentages during the session.
What happens next: The comment entered the public record; any change to hotel/motel tax policy would require a future agenda item and formal action by the commission.
