BENSON -- Benson will have a lodging tax starting May 1.
The Benson City Council unanimously approved Monday an ordinance implementing the tax, city manager Rob Wolfington said. The Benson Area Chamber of Commerce had asked for the tax to generate money to promote the city. The ordinance imposes a 3 percent tax on gross receipts at Benson lodging facilities and campgrounds. The tax is expected to generate $15,000 annually.
The ordinance also establishes a seven-member Benson Area Tourism Board, which will determine how the money is spent to market the city.
Chamber representatives attended the meeting Monday, but no lodging operators were present, Wolfington said. A local bed and breakfast had objected to the tax earlier this year. Also Monday, the board approved a change to its tobacco compliance ordinance so that it's in line with state law. The ordinance had said that the city could not prosecute a tobacco merchant who fails compliance checks under both criminal and administrative law. But state law requires that both be done.
In other business, the city:
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- Held its Truth-in-Taxation hearing, which no one attended. The city is proposing an 8 percent levy increase, but the tax rate is expected to remain the same.
- Accepted a $5,000 grant from the state Department of Natural Resources for a new pump for a fire department truck.
The pump will be used to hook up a pumper truck to the grass rig to fight grass fires, Wolfington said. About 50 percent of Fire Department calls are to grass fires, he said.
The grant requires a $5,000 match, which will come from the Fire Department's capital outlay fund.
