BURBANK'S INCOME FROM HOTEL BED TAX RISES.Byline: Staff Writer BURBANK - Hotel bed tax revenues soared 10.6 percent over last year, continuing an upward trend that began about six years ago when the economy improved, city officials said Wednesday. Revenues from the so-called transient occupancy tax Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is levied for the privilege of occupying a room or rooms or other living space in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel or other lodging (defined below) for a period of 30 days or less. for fiscal 1999-2000 were $2,799,906, up from $2,531,906 the previous year. Since 1994, the bed tax revenues have gone from about $2.5 million to nearly $3 million. City manager Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom said the trend is good for Burbank because, unlike property and sales taxes sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. , bed taxes aren't shared with the county or the state. That, coupled with a low vacancy rate during the week, are reasons the city has been pushing to develop more upscale accommodations. ``Weekdays, the town is literally packed,'' Ovrom said. ``We get a lot of businesses complaining that they can't find a hotel room. It's a service to the community and in terms of revenue generating, it's good for us.'' The city currently collects bed taxes at a rate of 10 percent per room from 12 hotels, motels Motels may refer to any of the following:
Vilko Domic, assistant director of the city's financial service department, said the hotels renovated their properties in the past few years and that might account for the increase. Joseph Kruvi, general manager of the Hilton, said another reason for the increase at his local hotel was the larger customer base created when the parent chain acquired the Promise Hotels. He said the city's tax rate is reasonable but he wants the money to benefit the hotels more. ``We would like to see the money invested back in attracting meetings and conventions to our city, in terms of promotion, etc.,'' Kruvi said. ``That (discussion is) coming up on our agenda.'' New hotels on the horizon for Burbank include two in the Empire Center project, a Courtyard by Marriott Courtyard by Marriott is a brand of hotels owned by Marriott International. They have over 2,800 hotels worldwide, as of June 2007. Courtyard by Marriott is designed for business travelers. and an Extended Stay America The first Extended Stay America hotels opened in 1995 by a number of founders including management from Blockbuster Video and AutoNation. In 1996, Extended Stay America acquired StudioPLUS, further continuing its growth. . In the downtown Burbank Village area, a Marriott Extended Stay will be built on the old Bombay Old Bombay was used to refer to the area which was formed by the merging of the seven original islands of Mumbai, India. The term is now archaic and was used from the 19th century until the 1980s. The more widely used term today is just the word 'town'. Bicycle Club site. And Hillcrest hill·crest n. The summit line of a hill. International, owners of the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. , is expected to build a Graciella Extended Stay hotel on Pass Avenue. On the other hand, despite a push from city officials, the old police headquarters site is expected to not include a hotel in whatever construction project ultimately is approved there. Zelman Development Corp. pulled out of the project because it could not get financing for the hotel, and the developer now working with city staffers to get a project done did not submit a hotel in its proposal. |
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