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Committees push downtown revitalization and lodgers-tax review; council advises data-driven grants and OTA tax collection
Summary
New Downtown Action and Lodgers Tax advisory committees reported plans to promote downtown foot traffic, evaluate crime and lighting, and to gather data on advertising ROI; councilors urged reviewing lodging-tax spending and pursuing compulsory collection from online travel agencies.
Two newly active committees reported to the Town Council on June 9: the Downtown Action Committee described steps to boost patronage and public safety downtown, and the Lodgers Tax Advisory Board outlined data collection and a plan for monthly meetings to shape future awards.
The Downtown Action Committee chair (name not stated) said the group’s second meeting focused on increasing downtown visits and addressing perceptions about vacancy. The committee identified priorities such as petty crime and noise, and proposed looking into business camera coverage, lighting repairs and a vacant-building survey to replace anecdote with data.
Kitty Clemens, chair of the Lodgers Tax Advisory Board, said the board elected officers at its June 1 meeting and will meet monthly to assemble the data needed to make recommendations to council about event funding, sponsorships and advertising ROI. Council members asked the board to compare local advertising approaches with other communities and to prioritize return on investment for lodging-tax spending.
Councilors emphasized two policy directions: first, supporting small downtown businesses through targeted lodging-tax awards and local advertising; second, pursuing compulsory tax collection by online travel agencies (Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb and similar platforms) so short-term rental hosts pay the same lodging tax as hotels. Councilor Prince said making OTA collection mandatory would level the playing field and increase town revenue; council discussed coordination with the county lodgers-tax committee but recognized legal and administrative limits on revenue sharing.
The committees’ reports drew broad council support and additional requests for data. Councilors urged ongoing outreach to business owners and public-works checks (lighting, sidewalks) to improve perceptions of safety and walkability downtown.
