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Staff recommends seeking local authorization to boost Savannah hotel-motel tax to 8%
Summary
City staff recommended moving to O.C.G.A. 48-13-51(b) to raise the hotel/motel tax from 6% to 8% and asked the council to adopt a resolution requesting the Chatham County Legislative Delegation introduce local legislation; staff proposed a $10 million Tide-to-Town trail segment and a $5 million Dorothy Barnes Pelote Bridge project as candidate uses.
City Manager Pat Monahan and Interim Chief Operating Officer Bret Bell briefed the Savannah City Council on June 11, 2020 about options to change the city's hotel/motel tax authorization and potential projects the revenue could fund.
Bell presented three authorization-paragraph options and said staff recommended option three, citing O.C.G.A. 48-13-51(b). That option would allow the city to increase the hotel/motel tax rate from the current 6% to 8. Bell told the mayor and aldermen that, if the council supports the change, the city should adopt a resolution asking the Chatham County Legislative Delegation to introduce local legislation to move Savannah into O.C.G.A. 48-13-51(b). Bell explained the resolution must specify the tax rate, identify tourism projects to be funded under the new authorization, and specify how proceeds would be allocated. He outlined a timetable for the delegation response and summarized how the current hotel/motel tax is allocated.
Bell defined several candidate projects and redevelopment areas: the Canal District Master Plan (including conversion of the Historic Water Works and surrounding area) and broader waterfront redevelopment. Bell introduced Denise Grabowski to describe two specific project proposals: a $10 million Tide-to-Town Urban Trail System (the Truman Linear Trail segment) and a $5 million West Bay Street/Dorothy Barnes Pelote Bridge project. Staff and the city manager answered questions from the mayor and aldermen; no final action or vote on the authorization or a resolution was recorded during the workshop.
