Lodging operators mad about proposed 'heads-in-beds' increase

Mark Patel has seen more than one person walk away from his motel because of the $2 “heads in beds” surcharge.

“I’ve had a bunch of them,” the owner/manager of the new Quality Inn and Suites in Eufaula said. “They don’t get it. And there’s no way we can explain it.”

Patel and other lodging operators are furious about a proposed $1 increase to the heads-on-beds surcharge which was first enacted several years ago. That would increase the surcharge to $3 per room per night.

The current $2 surcharge was approved by the Eufaula City Council to help fund tourism efforts such as fishing, baseball and softball tournaments. It generated $153,000 in 2005 but last year only generated $122,000. However, city and chamber officials expect that amount to increase since Quality (the former Best Value Inn on the Bluff) has recently opened and the lodge at Lakepoint Resort State Park is scheduled to reopen this August.

The $1 increase would help pay off a $157,000 loan and help fund other economic development functions.

However, area lodging operators are concerned that the extra $1 surcharge, if approved at Monday’s city council meeting, would cause would-be guests to travel elsewhere.

“In this economy, you can’t go up - even $1,” Patel said.

Betty Sutton, the manager of several Jameson Inn locations including the one in Eufaula, said most Alabama towns do not have a lodging tax.

“The bad thing about this tax is the guest will pay the same if they rent a $30 room in town or one that cost $150.”

A person who stays in an $80 motel room in Eufaula currently pays $10 in taxes and surcharges - $8 on a 10 percent lodging tax and the $2 heads on beds surcharge. That equates to 12.5 percent in taxes and surcharges.

The percentage is even higher for a $50 room. That equates to $7 in taxes and surcharges, or 14 percent. If the $1 increase is implemented, then the percentage increases to 16 percent.

Mary Royal of Lakepoint Resort State Park addressed her concerns in a letter that appeared in the weekend Tribune. She said the surcharges are, in effect, “kill(ing) the goose that laid the golden egg.”

“Lakepoint State Park Lodge and Convention Center has been under major renovation since October 2007. We are anticipating opening the first part of August and have looked forward to getting a lot of the groups that used to come to Lakepoint and Eufaula to return. But there is plenty of competition for their dollars. And believe me, they will go where they get the most bang for their buck,” she said.

Patel, Sutton and Royal said they were never notified by the chamber or the city of the possible increase.

“We would not have known this ordinance had been read at the city council meeting except for the article in the newspaper,” Royal wrote, referring to an article in the midweek edition that was published Tuesday.

Sutton, who once served on the chamber executive committee, said the issue was discussed last year at a chamber meeting.

“My opinion is to make sure that we are collecting the $2 before we add additional tax,” she said.

When asked if lodging operators had been contacted about the proposed increase, Eufaula-Barbour County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jim Bradley chose not to comment. However, he expressed disappointment with The Tribune for publishing the letter without notifying him first.

“I don’t want to get in a pi**ing contest with Lakepoint Resort in the paper,” he said.

Monday’s meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m. and be held at the Eufaula Municipal Courtroom. The public is invited to attend.