Council weighs visitor‑tax increase, RV spaces and a possible diversion to general fund

Council continued discussion of amendments to the city’s guestroom (visitor) tax ordinance, including (a) adding short‑term recreational vehicle (RV) spaces to the tax base and (b) increasing the excise rate from 8% to 10%. Staff presented draft ballot language and proposed an effective date of July 1 if voters approve the change in April.

Staff also presented two allocation approaches. Proposal 1 would direct the full 2 percentage‑point increase to parks capital projects; staff projected parks revenue rising from roughly $600,000 under the current rate to about $1.54 million under the full 2% increase. Proposal 2 would reserve a small fraction of the increase for general fund priorities (staff drafted 0.25% of the increase, which staff estimated would yield about $118,000) while still materially increasing parks funding.

During discussion councilors raised voter‑opinion and messaging concerns: several members cautioned that wording permitting the council to “determine” future priorities could be interpreted poorly by voters and urged clearer language or separate ballot questions. Staff advised that the RV definition and the rate increase are currently combined in a single question and suggested separating the allocation/purpose change into a second ballot question if council prefers. Councilors also noted state law and recent legislative changes that affect lodging tax calculations and asked staff to confirm interactions with state rules.

Staff reviewed current revenue flows: after a 4% administrative fee, Visit Norman receives approximately 59.375% of the remainder, Norman Arts Council 25%, and parks 15.625% under the existing formula; under the proposed full increase parks would receive the lion’s share of the incremental revenue, and Visit Norman and Norman Arts Council would maintain their existing dollar amounts but a smaller percentage of the larger pie. Council discussed whether to place the combined RV+rate question on an April ballot or separate items across different ballot dates to reduce voter fatigue; staff will draft ordinance language for the next agenda and coordinate outreach and education materials prior to any voter measure.