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Lodging tax adds to dome dollars
07/24/02
BENJAMIN NIOLET and ROY L. WILLIAMS
News staff writers
Birmingham City Council's Tuesday approval of a 3 percent lodging tax means proponents of a domed stadium have about 40 percent of the financial commitment needed to begin construction, dome supporters said.
The sports and convention dome and surrounding entertainment district still have hurdles to clear, including financial commitments from the state and the county, according to the plan pushed by the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex and Mayor Bernard Kincaid. The City Council will commit at least two-thirds of the projected $3 million annual lodging tax revenue to the effort, council members said Tuesday.
"It's a very good day, a memorable one for us all," said BJCC Executive Director Frank Poe. "Here you've got a government agency going beyond saying they support it and actually doing something about it."
The dome and district, to be built on and around the downtown BJCC site, could cost as much as $440 million, but interest would run the real cost to more than $1 billion. That breaks down to about $35 million a year for 30 years.
The city's lodging tax would add to the $12 million that Poe said would be raised annually by lodging and car rental taxes the Legislature recently approved.
The council approved the tax 8-1. Councilman Joel Montgomery voted not "no," but "no dome."
"I am not opposed to a dome. I am opposed to a dome with taxpayer money," Montgomery said before the vote. "This is being built on the backs of the people who are earning the money, the taxpayers."
Officials say the dome would help Birmingham compete with similarly sized cities for conventions and trade shows, which put money into a city's tax coffers.
The City Council will decide in two weeks what to do with the tax revenue.
The council's Finance and Budget Committee recommended Monday splitting the revenue between the BJCC and the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. If the tax generated $3 million in a year, the BJCC would get $2 million and the bureau $1 million. The bureau would use the extra money to market the city and book conventions more aggressively, said President James Smither.
Kincaid said he supports committing all the money to the BJCC because taxes generated by the expansion and the new hotel that it likely would draw could support the convention bureau.
Under the BJCC's plan, the balance of the $35 million annual payment would come from the county and the state.
Jefferson County would have to extend by 30 years its current $10 million payment to the BJCC. City officials have asked Gov. Don Siegelman for a $5 million annual commitment and state officials are considering that, Kincaid said.
The plan would require another $5 million or $6 million a year, but state Rep. John Rogers, who has championed the project, said Tuesday that would be easy to find when the other funds are committed.
County Commission President Gary White said Tuesday he is not ready to support the plan until the state kicks in money. "We know a good deal when we hear it and we haven't heard it yet," White said.
The council's Tuesday vote brings hotel taxes in Birmingham to the same level as other Jefferson County municipalities. The tax will take effect in four months, giving the city's Finance Department time to prepare to collect it.
The current draft of the city's dome funding agreement with the BJCC would allow the city to cancel the deal and redirect the tax revenue if in two years expansion efforts are not progressing.
Councilwoman Carole Smitherman said the dome is one of the city's best avenues for economic development. The city is limited in its ability to recruit industry because of air pollution problems.
"In this valley we don't have any other economic engine we can drive except the dome," Smitherman said.
07/24/02
BENJAMIN NIOLET and ROY L. WILLIAMS
News staff writers
Birmingham City Council's Tuesday approval of a 3 percent lodging tax means proponents of a domed stadium have about 40 percent of the financial commitment needed to begin construction, dome supporters said.
The sports and convention dome and surrounding entertainment district still have hurdles to clear, including financial commitments from the state and the county, according to the plan pushed by the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex and Mayor Bernard Kincaid. The City Council will commit at least two-thirds of the projected $3 million annual lodging tax revenue to the effort, council members said Tuesday.
"It's a very good day, a memorable one for us all," said BJCC Executive Director Frank Poe. "Here you've got a government agency going beyond saying they support it and actually doing something about it."
The dome and district, to be built on and around the downtown BJCC site, could cost as much as $440 million, but interest would run the real cost to more than $1 billion. That breaks down to about $35 million a year for 30 years.
The city's lodging tax would add to the $12 million that Poe said would be raised annually by lodging and car rental taxes the Legislature recently approved.
The council approved the tax 8-1. Councilman Joel Montgomery voted not "no," but "no dome."
"I am not opposed to a dome. I am opposed to a dome with taxpayer money," Montgomery said before the vote. "This is being built on the backs of the people who are earning the money, the taxpayers."
Officials say the dome would help Birmingham compete with similarly sized cities for conventions and trade shows, which put money into a city's tax coffers.
The City Council will decide in two weeks what to do with the tax revenue.
The council's Finance and Budget Committee recommended Monday splitting the revenue between the BJCC and the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. If the tax generated $3 million in a year, the BJCC would get $2 million and the bureau $1 million. The bureau would use the extra money to market the city and book conventions more aggressively, said President James Smither.
Kincaid said he supports committing all the money to the BJCC because taxes generated by the expansion and the new hotel that it likely would draw could support the convention bureau.
Under the BJCC's plan, the balance of the $35 million annual payment would come from the county and the state.
Jefferson County would have to extend by 30 years its current $10 million payment to the BJCC. City officials have asked Gov. Don Siegelman for a $5 million annual commitment and state officials are considering that, Kincaid said.
The plan would require another $5 million or $6 million a year, but state Rep. John Rogers, who has championed the project, said Tuesday that would be easy to find when the other funds are committed.
County Commission President Gary White said Tuesday he is not ready to support the plan until the state kicks in money. "We know a good deal when we hear it and we haven't heard it yet," White said.
The council's Tuesday vote brings hotel taxes in Birmingham to the same level as other Jefferson County municipalities. The tax will take effect in four months, giving the city's Finance Department time to prepare to collect it.
The current draft of the city's dome funding agreement with the BJCC would allow the city to cancel the deal and redirect the tax revenue if in two years expansion efforts are not progressing.
Councilwoman Carole Smitherman said the dome is one of the city's best avenues for economic development. The city is limited in its ability to recruit industry because of air pollution problems.
"In this valley we don't have any other economic engine we can drive except the dome," Smitherman said.
