The City of Asheville has a right to demand a percentage of the occupancy taxes collected from the tourism industry. A small percentage of those taxes collected would easily cover the budget’s shortfall and ease the burden on citizens already hard-pressed with skyrocketing property taxes and affordable housing.
It’s ludicrous that 0% of the 6% occupancy tax charged to lodging tourists goes to city/county coffers. In the fiscal year 2021-22, $37.5 million was generated in occupancy taxes (and that was a COVID-19 year). Of that $37.5 million, a whopping 75% went into marketing — marketing. (Like the city of Asheville lacks notoriety or isn’t yet well-known enough as being a destination for all strata of tourism.) And of that $37.5 million, a mere 25% went into projects like parks and facilities, which have an ever-growing demand on them by the influx of tourists to this region.
The City of Asheville loves being host to and being a wildly sought-after area in the country to visit, but these figures equate to an egregiously inequitable equation for local area residents. All financial burden is placed squarely on residents’ taxpaying shoulders to support all infrastructure and all resources for not only themselves, but they have been expected to carry the burden for a highly critical-resource-demanding industry! It’s about time the citizens be remunerated and financially compensated for providing this wildly prosperous industry with resources vital to sustaining it…