Nikole Babb
nbabb@cherryroad.com

Due to no action taken by the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in six years, the city has decided to terminate the agreed upon tax improvement project.

Community Improvement Districts, (CID), are used to levy additional taxes such as a retail tax or special assessment that are used for capital or public improvements. In the case of the Holiday Inn Express CID, its intended purpose was to collect tax to put towards efforts to improve the hotel for those traveling to the city.

In the time that the Holiday Inn Express CID has been enacted, which was in 2018, the property owners haven’t submitted any expenses or reimbursements to use the tax money, according to the City of El Dorado. During the City Commission meeting on Monday, City Manager David Dillner stated that the city has attempted to reach out to the owner of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites several times for reimbursement or to submit expenses but never heard anything back. Since 2018 the CID has collected a 2% sales tax. The city has decided to terminate the CID and allocate the $125,000 that’s been gathered and put it into the economic development fund for future use. There are no current plans as to what the money will be used towards, but was noted that it will go towards a project when needed.

“Essentially people booking rooms at the Holiday Inn are paying a tax that isn’t being utilized,” said Dillner. “We thought we could eliminate that tax and relieve occupant receipts by 2%.”

The next step in terminating the sales tax for those booking rooms at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites is for the city to contact the state, who will approve the termination. Then it’s expected for the tax to drop off around April 1, or the end of the next quarter. The motion to terminate the CID was passed unanimously.

The City Commission will next meet on next Wednesday, December 11, for a Work Session at 5pm at the City Office.