Tourism tax change, Late change made to ballot question on lodging tax

Weston County officials appear to be confused about the lodging tax assessment on the 2024 general election ballot, and County Clerk Becky Hadlock recently announced a change to the language of the question that appears on the November ballots.

Hadlock told the News Letter Journal that the change — which dropped the amount requested for a county lodging tax from 4% to 2% — was prompted when the Wyoming Department of Revenue contacted the county to determine whether there were any ballot propositions in this year’s election that could affect tax rates in the county.

“When they viewed our ballot, they saw that our ballot proposition No. 1 stated that we would continue to impose a lodging excise tax in the amount of four percent (4%) upon the sales price paid for lodging services,” Hadlock said. “Right away, they contacted me and let me know this was to be dropped down to two percent (2%).”

Department of Revenue Excise Tax Division Administrator Bret Fanning said in an email that the check is part of the department’s routine due diligence for all counties’ elections, and requires his team to email county clerks to request copies of ballots.

He said that most entities have a lodging tax assessment on the ballot every four years after voters initially approve it, but confusion was created in 2020, when the Legislature passed House Bill 134. It created a 5% statewide lodging assessment that is divided into state (3%) and local (2%) revenue collections.

A clause ensured counties did not experience a local revenue decrease as a result of the bill, so Weston County has continued to receive the full 4% allotment local voters last approved in 2020.

“The full 5% statewide lodging assessment doesn’t fully kick in until the lodging tax is on the ballot again, after the statewide lodging assessment was implemented,” Fanning explained.

According to state statute, once a county has a lodging tax, the question “basically” has to be on every general election ballot until it’s defeated, so Weston County’s 2024 ballot would have had to feature a lodging tax question, even if the bill hadn’t passed in 2020, Fanning said. If House Bill 134 had not passed, however, this year’s ballot “likely” would have continued to ask voters to approve the 4% lodging tax rate they had last approved in 2020..

After the establishment of the statewide lodging tax, however, Weston County is no longer allowed to propose a local lodging tax rate of 4%, Fanning said, noting the local option lodging tax can’t exceed 2%.

As a result, the revised text of the ballot question for Weston County is “Shall Weston County continue to impose a lodging excise tax in the amount of two percent (2%) upon the sales price paid for lodging services, the primary purpose of which is for local travel and tourism promotion?”

The maximum lodging tax rate in the state, outside of resort districts, is 7%, and approval of this year’s ballot proposition would set Weston County’s lodging tax rate at that amount because of the 5% statewide lodging tax mandated in HB 134. Approval of the additional 2% would match the 2% already set aside for local use in HB 134, and in effect maintain the current local lodging tax level at 4% — with the other 3% scooped up for state use.

“Fortunately, this was caught soon enough for us to get the proper signs posted, notices sent to the newspapers and notices sent out to the remaining absentee voters,” Hadlock said.

She acknowledged that some absentee voters had already voted on the proposition, and said “their vote will be counted just the same. They are either for this or they are not.”

If voters ever decided to not approve the tax, there would be a waiting period before it could be put on the ballot for approval again.

Lodging tax changes stymie local officials

People were informed in multiple ways of changes that will affect the way lodging taxes are assessed in Wyoming as a result of the passage of HB 134 in 2020, according to the Wyoming Department of Revenue’s Bret Fanning.

“The passage of the statewide lodging assessment was a big discussion in Wyoming a few years ago and involved stakeholders around the state and country,” Fanning said. “The Department notified the public about these changes and it was covered by a variety of sources.”

He noted that there has been some confusion with the assessment, but the department has worked with local officials to ensure everyone is following the laws.

Typically, local officials decide what language to put on the ballot, under state statute, and the department is usually not involved in that process, even though some local elected officials and tourism organizations have contacted the department — voluntarily — for guidance on the tax.

“We generally get involved once something passes so we can notify our vendors to charge the right sales/use and lodging tax rates,” he said. “As the administrative agency in Wyoming for lodging tax though, we needed to contact Weston County about the proposal language.”

“Again, I am just grateful we are aware of the change and have done all of the proper steps to correct the change,” Hadlock said.

She told the News Letter Journal that she asked the department how the county “was made aware of this change.”

“I was told all taxpayers in Wyoming were notified of the change with the Taxing Issues, March 2020 which is sent out by the Department of Revenue via email (of course this is not something the Clerk’s office receives),” she said.

That Taxing Issues quarterly publication is posted on the department’s website, but Hadlock was not the only local official who was unaware of the need to change the lodging tax language that appeared on ballots four years ago.

At its Oct. 16 meeting, less than three weeks before the election, members of the Weston County Travel Commission (WCTC), which uses the lodging tax revenue to promote local tourism, revealed their own confusion over what the tax was and at what level the tax is currently collected.

WCTC member Bruce Perkins said he didn’t think the tax needed to be on the ballot, so it “amazes” him that it is because it was his understanding that it would only go on the ballot if the commission wanted to change it from its current rate — otherwise it would remain at the 5% mandated by the state in HB 134.

“So correct me if I’m wrong, it would be 5%, regardless. It’s whether or not that 2% comes to us — or it’s 3% — regardless?” WCTC President Brittany Trandahl asked.

Perkins suggested the local share of the revenue should stay at 2% because he doesn’t believe the county needs an increase, but then recalled that county voters had approved a 4% local lodging tax in 2020.

“Well, actually, when all that happened, we ended up taking a cut from 4% to 2%,” he said.

WCTC member Kelley Millar pointed out that because the assessment is only levied on visitors, it’s a tax that Weston County residents don’t necessarily pay — unless they stay in hotels. The commission’s budget is $142,000 for fiscal year 2025, according to documents the News Letter Journal received at the commission’s Oct. 16 meeting.

The commission has approved spending $68,000 in advertising, $13,600 for chambers of commerce in Newcastle and Upton, $12,000 for community events and $12,000 for co-op advertising. The commission’s other budgeted expenses are administration, funding requests, beautification, billboards and startup events. The budget also included $10,000 in reserve.

Learn more

The Excise Tax Division shares educational materials about the statewide lodging assessment and other taxes at excise-tax-div.wyo.gov/general-administrative/educational-materials and about counties’ tax rates at excise-tax-div.wyo.gov/sales-use-tax-rate-charts. The Wyoming Office of Tourism shares travel information for the general public at travelwyoming.com and for the tourism industry at industry.travelwyoming.com. To see the 162-page Travel Economic Impacts 2023 report, go to industry.travelwyoming.com/research/travel-economic-impacts/.