Maize council green-lights procedural steps for Holiday Inn Express renovation, raises hotel tax to 8%

Maize Mayor Pat Styver and city staff told the council on June 1 that the owner of the Holiday Inn Express, identified in the packet as Raji Sheath, plans substantial renovations required to retain the IHG franchise and has requested a package of incentives tied to those renovations. Staff said they are seeking a sales-tax-only industrial revenue bond (IRB) to allow exemption from sales tax on construction materials (up to $2.25 million) and establishment of a 2% Community Improvement (CI) district to return additional sales-tax revenue to the hotel for up to 22 years.

Staff emphasized safeguards will be built into the final development agreement: incentives would not include property-tax abatements, disbursements would be performance- and completion-based, incentives would terminate if the property loses required franchise designation, and the city would retain oversight and required reporting. "Some of the incentives are tied to maintaining the Holiday and Express franchise or equivalent IHG brand," staff said when describing conditions for payment.

Council voted to pass a resolution authorizing the statutory IRB process and to set a public hearing for July 6, 2026 to consider creation of the proposed 2% CI district. The motions schedule required notices to be published and mailed to affected property owners.

Separately, council unanimously approved an amendment to Ordinance 825 to raise Maize's transient guest tax from 6% to 8%, effective immediately (subject to required state notification timelines for the next quarter). Staff told council the additional 2% at the hotel property level is estimated to generate roughly $170,000 a year in gross collections at an 8% rate for that property, which staff said would translate to about $42,500 per year directed under the 2% incentive assumption; staff also noted that these revenue streams alone will not cover the full renovation cost (estimated by staff at roughly $9.25 million total purchase and renovation costs). City staff reiterated that no transient tax funds would be transferred to the developer until required renovations are completed to the city's satisfaction and to IHG's standards.

What happens next: staff will return with final development and incentive agreements and additional detail on performance protections; the CI-district public hearing is scheduled for July 6, and IRB statutory steps will continue according to state law.