May 21--The Mitchell City Council has moved a step closer to approving a $1 tax on all of the city's rented hotel rooms.

The council adopted Resolution 3109, which expresses the city's intent to create a business improvement district (BID) and impose a $1 tax on rented rooms at the city's 17 hotels and motels, at its meeting Monday night at City Hall.

The BID, if approved, will support the construction of a second indoor ice sheet in the city and kickstart the creation of a local sports authority.

A hearing was scheduled for the July 1 council meeting to allow any of the affected business owners to express opposition to the BID. The council will then have to adopt the BID as an ordinance and establish a start date at a future meeting.

In a petition presented to the council last month, 13 of the city's 17 hotel and motel owners were in favor of the BID. None of the hotel or motel owners addressed the council at Monday's meeting. A BID is a self-taxation arrangement in which businesses agree to pay a fee, with the money going toward a specific project. The council already adopted resolutions to establish the BID's borders and to create a board to manage the BID at past meetings.

Half the revenue generated, or 50 cents of every $1 imposed by the BID, will be used to help fund the construction of a second ice sheet at the Mitchell Activities Center until $400,000 is raised, according to a draft of the resolution.

The other half of the revenue from the BID will be used to create and fund a local sports authority, the resolution says.

In an interview last month with The Daily Republic, Council President Jeff Smith said the sports authority will likely require one full-time employee and, he estimated, a budget between $80,000 and $100,000.

The sports authority will work to promote sporting events, especially youth sporting events, in the city, the resolution says.

The BID support for the sports authority will expire after three years, the resolution says.

If any new hotels or motels are constructed while the BID is in place, they will be included in the BID, the resolution says.

___

(c)2013 The Daily Republic (Mitchell, S.D.)

Visit The Daily Republic (Mitchell, S.D.) at www.mitchellrepublic.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services