Ashland mattress tax will assist fund tourism and development, officers say | Native

JEFFERSON CITY – Local officials are pushing for a temporary guest tax or bed tax to be approved House bill 28 in the hope that tourism in Ashland will pick up pace.

If this is successful, any future Ashland hotel with the invoice can tax up to 5% on the price of each occupied room per night.

House Bill 28, sponsored by Rep. Sara Walsh, R. Ashland, passed the House’s Special Committee on Tourism during an executive meeting on Wednesday.

The bill is next moved to the floor of the house before being sent to the Senate and the governor. The final decision rests with the Ashland residents, who vote on the tax once it leaves the governor’s desk.

Ashland city administrator Tony St. Romaine said local officials worked with Walsh last year to pass the tax. St. Romaine was optimistic about the economic development in Ashland and the benefits of the bed tax.

St. Romaine said the city hopes to build a hotel or two in Ashland in the next two to three years, even though the city doesn’t currently have a hotel. A future hotel would be near Columbia Regional Airport, according to plans for that Lakeside Ashland amusement park.

Lakeside Ashland is an up and coming complex with a lake, an outdoor amphitheater, and golf. Construction is expected to begin in the spring on the new parking lot at 5900 E. Log Providence Road west of US 63 at the airport exit.

“You have people flying into Colombia, or maybe leaving early in the morning, and it seems to make sense to have accommodation near the airport,” said St. Romaine.

He said two business parks are ready for development: the Cartwright Business and Technology Center and the East Ashland Plaza. The Cartwright Center is next to the airport, while the East Ashland Plaza is on State Route Y near the main exit to Ashland.

Lelande Rehard, Ashland’s deputy city administrator, submitted written certificate in support of the bill during its February 10 hearing. Rehard testified that the bed tax was a “necessary source of funding for our community” as tourism and development increase.

Rehard estimated that with a bed tax of 4%, a new Ashland hotel with 63% capacity would generate an additional $ 137,510 per year.

Rehard stated that after the complete Cartwright Center is built, “retail, hotel, restaurant, gas station, etc. will have 3,000,000 visitors annually”.

In addition to funding economic development and tourism, the bed tax will help cover public safety expenses, including an additional law enforcement substation near the airport, according to St. Romaine.

Neighboring cities, including Columbia, have bed taxes. Columbia currently charges hotel guests a 5% tax. Missouri bed tax is included 4.225%.