Mobile eyeballs lodging tax increase to pay for Civic Center and Mobile Regional Airport costs

Yahoo

28-01-2025

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — City of Mobile officials think they have found a way to make tourists pay for costs associated with the Civic Center and Mobile Regional Airport projects.
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On Tuesday, the Mobile City Council reviewed a plan to raise the city's lodging tax from 8% to 10%. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said the goal is to generate at least $300 million per year for 10 years to help pay for the relocation of the Mobile Regional Airport.
Any revenue exceeding $300 million would go towards the debt services of the Civic Center project.
'We're creating a firewall so we don't have to go to the citizens, you know, to ask for money for these two projects,' Stimpson said. 'People who are coming to the arena, so many of those will be staying in our hotels, and for the airport, the business travelers coming here and those coming for entertainment.'
After an estimated 20 years of paying off the debt services related to the demolition and construction of the new Mobile Civic Center, the revenue from the lodging tax will roll into the city's general fund to be used at the government's discretion.
'This is a way to lock it in, so we're not going back to the citizens of Mobile and asking them to participate and helping satisfy some of these costs,' Stimpson said.
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Stimpson said the plan is a way to target the pockets of Mobile's tourists rather than its citizens. He said less than 1% of the city's 1.5 million room nights per year are reserved by Mobilians, typically during the Mardi Gras season.
'We're actually saving the citizens of Mobile money that they otherwise might have to pay,' Stimpson said.
Despite concerns that a tax increase would turn tourists away, President and CEO of Visit Mobile, David Cooke, said otherwise. He said Mobile's lodging tax would be competitive among surrounding cities. He said the tax rate would be the same as Gulf Shores and lower than Birmingham.
'We haven't had a lodging tax increase in 20 years. It's very warranted,' Cooke said.
Visit Mobile currently takes 33.5% of the lodging tax revenue. If passed, Cooke said Visit Mobile's slice of the lodging tax revenue would increase to 37.5%. That money will be used to market Mobile's tourism scene.
'With these new assets coming on board, we're projecting a very bright future,' Cooke said.
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The city council is expected to vote on the tax increase in next Tuesday's meeting.
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