CITY & COUNTY Tomball moves forward with short-term rental monitoring, collecting hotel occupancy tax
News from Tomball, Magnolia and Harris & Montgomery counties
Magnolia looks to increase salaries by 3% in FY 2023-24
BY LIZZY SPANGLER
BY LIZZY SPANGLER
MAGNOLIA The city of Magnolia is proposing $293,141 to up salaries 3% for administrative per- sonnel, the police chief and public works in fiscal year 2023-24, according to a workshop July 11. In a nutshell: The city is proposing $7.05 million in expenditures and $7.1 million in revenues in FY 2023-24, according to the preliminary budget. What else?: Some of the proposed budget’s major items include: • $500,000 on a project for Connie Street • $303,075 for an updated pay schedule for the police department • $54,139 for a new public works employee • $9,000 for a new Christmas light show Quote of note: “This will put us up there where we need to be to be competitive and hire people that are good quality,” Police Chief Kyle Montgom- ery said about the proposed pay schedule update. Stay tuned: A public hearing on the budget and tax rate is set for Aug. 22.
MONITORING SHORT- TERM RENTALS Tomball is pursuing collecting hotel occupancy tax from short-term rental properties.
TOMBALL During its July 3 meeting, Tomball City Council discussed a contract for short-term rental monitoring and compliance following the decision of the city to collect hotel occupancy tax from short-term rental properties, those separate from a hotel which are rented for up to 30 days. In a nutshell: The contract will expand the services of Avenu, the city’s vendor for collecting hotel tax, to include monitoring and identifying short-term rental properties as well as helping short-term rental properties comply with hotel tax collection, according to the July 3 agenda packet. Zooming out: Tomball collects a 7% hotel tax following the adoption of an ordinance in 2006, Community Impact previously reported. • There are 93 active short-term rental properties in Tomball with an average nightly rate of $236.54, according to Avenu’s presentation at City Council’s June 19 meeting. • At a 40% occupancy rate, the estimated hotel tax revenue is around $250,000.
rentals in the city 93
$236.54 Average nightly rental rate
active short-term
$250,000 Estimated HOT revenue to be collected
SOURCES: AVENU, CITY OF TOMBALL/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Quote of note: “We’ll provide adequate notice that will give [short-term rental properties] time to implement it because there will be some platform changes that they’ll have to make to their listings to allow that application of the fee,” Assistant City Manager Jessica Rogers said. “We’ll be providing notice, and our goal first is education and making sure everyone’s informed.” Stay tuned: City Manager David Esquivel will execute the contract, and the city will work with Avenu to get the new services started, Rogers said.
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