City Residents To Decide Hotel-Motel Tax Increase
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The residents of Oskaloosa will head to the polls on March 2nd to decide if an increase in the Hotel-Motel tax is something they want.
Currently, the Hotel-Motel tax rate in Oskaloosa is 5%. Including Oskaloosa, that makes fifteen communities across the state with that rate.
In comparison, the Iowa Department of Revenue says in total 168 cities charge a hotel-motel tax.
There is one community charging 6%, 15 charging 5%, and one community charging 4% hotel-motel tax. The majority of communities in Iowa, or 151 of them, charge the 7% rate.
The call for a special election on the matter was set forward by the Oskaloosa City Council and will only impact hotels and motels within the city limits of Oskaloosa.
Lawton went to the polls yesterday (02-09-21) and voted to increase and extend the Hotel-Motel Tax. Roughly 2,000 people voted and over 75% voted yes on the proposal so it passed by an overwhelming majority. The new Hotel-Motel Tax with go into effect on (05-01-21) and will be a 7% tax on all non-residents for local hotel, motel and Airbnb stays. The new Hotel-Motel Tax measure will be for a period of 10 years.