The City of Omaha is creating a new program to help incentivize the construction of upscale hotels in the City. Over the next few weeks, the City Council will review and vote on an ordinance to create a Hotel Occupation Tax Reinvestment Program.
The program allows developers to use all or a portion of the transient rental guest tax revenue to reimburse eligible development costs, including acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, utility extensions and parking, among other things. Per the Omaha Municipal Code, the transient rental guest tax totals 5.5 percent of the gross charge for hotel occupancy.
According to the ordinance, a qualifying hotel project must meet several parameters. Foremost, the hotel must be new to market and be considered an upper-upscale hotel. The City defines “upper-upscale” as a hotel that meets a Four Diamond rating or better under the AAA hotel rating scale…