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Mr. Shauffacher clarified that this would have no impact on the taxpayers in the City. He noted <br />that the percentage that they would be charging people staying at the hotel would be a very small <br />amount. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove shared that when she is booking a hotel, all of these smaller taxes and <br />fees add up and she would be looking for a hotel that did not have these kinds of extra charges. <br />She noted that this would make more sense if there were multiple hotels in the City; however, with <br />only one currently operating hotel, she does not support this. <br /> <br />Councilmember Howell explained that if surrounding cities have lodging taxes and Ramsey does <br />not, this may be an incentive for people to stay in Ramsey to pay a little less. She said she does not <br />like the amount of revenue the City is limited to keeping. She stated there is a lot of work that <br />needs to be done in the Finance Department and this would be adding more to this department. <br />She added that she will also not be supporting this. <br /> <br />Councilmember Riley stated the two hotels in the City are asking for this so they are already <br />concerned whether or not they see value in this. He noted that the hotel owners are the experts in <br />this area. He added that the EDA looked at this back in 2010 and they found that it was not right <br />for that time, and it was also not being asked for by the hotels. He said he is in support of this as a <br />service to the hotels and local businesses. <br /> <br />Councilmember Specht shared that his concern is with the Staff time and work involved in this. <br />He asked if this would require a new employee in the Finance Department to manage this. <br /> <br />Finance Director Lund explained that they would need to set up a fund then from there it would <br />just be submitting the receipts and processing a check for the Twin Cities Gateway Visitors Bureau. <br /> <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan shared that this is not being driven by Staff and the <br />hotels are pushing this. <br /> <br />Mr. Shauffacher added that the owner of the new Home2 Suites approached the Twin Cities <br />Gateway Visitors Bureau. <br /> <br />Councilmember Woestehoff asked if having something like this would be a tool to bring in other <br />organizations that are more destination-driven. <br /> <br />Economic Development Manager Sullivan explained that having a tourism bureau is not <br />necessarily going to bring in these types of users; however, these users are likely going to be more <br />successful having this additional marketing. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove reiterated that she believes this is putting the cart before the horse as <br />one of the two hotels in the City is not even open yet. She stated she does not feel that this benefits <br />Ramsey as much as it does the hotel. She said she could consider this down the road. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / October 22, 2024 <br />Page 3 of 15 <br /> <br />