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Elected officials say this year is too soon to hold a special election to ask voters to increase the taxes tourists already pay at hotels.
Commissioners voted Tuesday 5-0, shooting down a measure that would’ve advanced a 2025 November ballot measure to add 2 cents to the current 5-cent tax tourists pay on their hotel rooms.
Conversation indicates both county commissioners and town councilors have an appetite to head that direction, though not anytime soon.
“The lodging tax only creates more revenue if it passes,” commissioner Natalia Macker said. “I don’t think that a special election just for a ballot measure like this is the most strategic.”
The town voted 3-2 last month to move forward a measure that would do just that in town.
But Mayor Arne Jorgensen told commissioners in a Tuesday meeting councilors will consider overturning the vote at a meeting July 7 after indication that November was too soon.
Since the vote, he’s heard from board members of the Travel and Tourism Board and experts in messaging and marketing that having more time would mean the measure is more likely to pass.
He suggested a similar approach as in 2018, when almost 60% of county voters approved to retain a 2% tax for another four years after about a year of lobbying. Two years later the state dissolved county residents’ ability to vote on that portion of the tax.
While some have criticized the stress over-tourism can bring, there’s no question the tourist tax also pads out local budgets.
In recent years, about $10 million annually stays local, with the town and county collecting over $2 million each. Much of that is spent on buses, restroom maintenance and the sheriff’s department.
The remaining 60%, or $6.5 million last year, goes to the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board, which manages the marketing tourists see before they ever arrive. The board also funds nonprofits that offset impacts from tourism with so-called ambassador programs. It’s part of the board’s recent commitment to “sustainable” tourism. That means funding more visitor education in and around Jackson, like how to prevent wildfires or avoid grizzly bears.
Commissioners are feeling the financial squeeze with less funds coming from property taxes due to a new state law. Showing a need for adding the ballot item to the general election in 2026, commissioner chair Mark Newcomb said he sees the need for more revenue.
This year the county had to cut $23 million from original staff budget proposals to balance its budget.
“I think the lodging tax is probably a very logical source of that revenue because it doesn’t come out of our individual pockets,” Newcomb said. “We really need to get our ducks in a row in terms of what revenue we need [and] why we need it.”
Jorgensen said that even without a vote, 2025 should be a year to build momentum.
“This year I think we have a real opportunity to build on the past coalitions that were primarily driven by the tourist industry and lodging industry,” Jorgensen said.
