Dear WH&LA Lodging Member:
The 2017 WH&LA Action Day registration deadline was extended 24 hours to
this Thursday at 5:00 pm!
The following will give you an advance preview on what key issues we will be addressing on April 5 starting at 10:00 am at the Sheraton Hotel in Madison:
- Support the continuation of the School Start Date
- Support of an increase in the state Tourism Marketing Budget
- Support the elimination of the Personal Property Tax for businesses
- Support measures that will ensure that Short-Term Rentals are equitably licensed and remit state & local taxes
- Support investments in Transportation to ensure that visitors have safe and expedient access to tourism businesses around the state.
As you can see, these issues impact every member in one way or another, and that is why we are gathering to make sure that legislators consider the impact on our industry as they determine the state budget and vote on legislation this session. If you can see any impact of these issues for your property, please consider joining your peers from around the state to make sure that a wide variety of districts and legislators hear our messages. Attached you will find the basic information on a pdf that you can share with others as well, or if you find it easier to just register now online, go to https://www.tfaforms.com/230572.
New Room Tax Online Reports
We have learned from the state Department of Revenue (DOR) that they have already started to post online the completed reports submitted by municipalities to date regarding their local Room Tax. The deadline for these newly required reports is May 1st, so if you do not see your municipality's report yet, check back periodically until that date. The DOR is authorized to impose an up to $3,000 fine on any municipality with a local room tax that did not submit. As this is available to the public as well as the media, feel free to view any report and to pass on information that you feel others might find of interest. You may want to save this link as a "favorite" for future searches:
Personal Property Tax Proposal
We are anticipating a new bill will be circulating shortly for co-sponsors that will do the following:
- Eliminate the Personal Property Tax beginning on January 1, 2018
- Improvements on leased land shall be assessed as real property
- The state shall provide aid to municipalities starting in 2018 that will cover the loss in revenue from the Personal Property tax elimination.
A growing coalition of well over 20 business organizations (including the WH&LA) is in support of this proposed legislation.
We hope to see you next week at Action Day!!
Best,
Trisha
