MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The owner of a Sylvia bed and breakfast is urging Reno County commissioners to reject a proposed 10% transient guest tax on lodging outside Hutchinson and South Hutchinson, saying it would burden small rural operators while helping finance the Salt Lick resort project.
In a letter dated Monday, Mike Murphy, owner of Prairie Oaks Inn and a member of the Kansas Senate, asked commissioners to vote against resolutions that would establish the tax and direct its proceeds.
Murphy said a county draft presentation indicates that taxes collected at Salt Lick would be returned to the resort’s owners to help with STAR bond payments. Collections from other affected lodging businesses would instead support tourism marketing and development grants, according to his account of the proposal.
“The rest of us are not the reason for this tax; we are being swept into it so that a resort-specific rebate can be enacted as countywide policy,” Murphy wrote.
Murphy said the proposal could affect bed and breakfasts, cabins, hunting lodges and short-term rentals outside the two cities. Although guests would be charged the tax, he argued that operators could lose bookings if they raise prices or absorb the cost to remain competitive.
He also questioned the county’s estimate of $177,291 in annual collections from 63 lodging properties. Murphy said the underlying listing data and assumptions should be made public before a vote, particularly because a property advertised on multiple rental platforms could be counted more than once.
The letter raises questions about oversight of the proposed marketing and grant fund. Murphy said lodging operators who collect the tax would hold two seats on a proposed seven-member committee. He also called for a written legal opinion on whether tax collections could be returned to the resort’s owners.
Murphy asked commissioners to reject the tax. If they proceed, he urged them to publish the revenue projections and property list, give lodging operators a majority on the oversight committee and set an expiration date requiring a future vote to continue the tax.
The letter presents Murphy’s account of the county’s draft proposal. It does not include a response from Reno County or the Salt Lick developers.
The Reno County Commission tabled the item at its Aug. 26 meeting. It is presently not on the agenda for the scheduled meeting for Wednesday morning.