Hotel tax revenue on track for timely collection

In 2016, prior to the passage of a 1 percent hotel tax increase, Columbia city officials said if it were approved, it would sunset in 23 years. If the city collected $10 million from the tax before that time, they said the tax would expire earlier.

In a 2016 memo, city staff projected the tax would accrue about $500,000 per year and anticipated $8 to $10 million in revenue over the 23 years.

Last year, ABC 17 News reported that that amount could be collected in about 20 years based on the hotel tax revenue numbers at the time. The city began to collect the tax in Jan. 2017, and the first record of how much revenue it collected appeared in Feb. 2017.

On Wednesday, ABC 17 News dug through the newest revenue numbers that begin in Feb. 2017 and go through Sept. 2018.

The graphics below illustrate the total yearly revenue that the 1 percent dedicated to the airport terminal project has accrued over the past 20 months. ABC 17 News obtained these numbers through a Sunshine request.

Revenue totals are mostly consistent from year-to-year. The winter months have lower revenue totals, and the fall months (University of Missouri football season) have higher revenue totals. Based on the consistency that the tax revenue would net around $1 million every two years, the tax will likely collect about $10 million in about 20 years. There are variables between now and then, including the possibility of major events that bring in more revenue per month that can increase totals.

While the timeline for the tax seems to be getting clearer and clearer, the timeline for when ground could break on terminal construction is still a bit nebulous.

Director of Economic Development, Stacey Button, told ABC 17 News Monday that there’s no groundbreaking date because of a variety of factors.

The consultants for the plan, Burns & McDonnell, are finalizing their Supplemental Terminal Area Master Plan and Revised Airport Layout Plan. Those documents will be submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration ideally by mid-January. The city can only proceed with the FAA’s approval. Then it will begin with the design stage.

“The city is in the process of determining the construction methodology, and once that determination is made and following an RFQ process then a date for groundbreaking will be determined,” Button said in an email Monday. “City staff continues to work with local, state and federal partners in ensuring [sic] we’re following the necessary and required processes and regulations.”