Garden City Tax Hike Boosts Tourism

Finney County officials say a new hotel
and motel guest tax is bringing in more revenue than they expected.
The tax rate was increased last summer to 6 percent from 4
percent on hotels and motels in the county.
The county’s convention and tourism bureau reports that the new
tax brought in $646,000 in the last fiscal year, compared with
$341,000 in the previous fiscal year.
Tourism and business officials had expected the tax hike to
generate between $100,000 and $200,000 in additional revenue.
Lynn Schoonover, director of the county’s tourism bureau,
contributes the increased revenue to major renovations at many of
the motel and hotels in the county and increased efforts to market
Garden City.