Dallas voters could raise hotel taxes in November. How much you pay depends where you stay

Dallas voters go to the polls in a few weeks to decide whether to increase the amount of taxes collected for hotel and other room rentals from 13% to 15% to pay for a new convention center and Fair Park venue renovations. So why are some people saying the true tax rate would be 17%? As usual, the devil is in the details: People who get rooms at Dallas’ larger hotels will indeed be forking over 17% of their bill to the government. But that extra 2% — called a fee or assessment — has been around for a while and is not called a tax. The city collects hotel occupancy taxes on hotels, motels, short-term rentals and bed and breakfast properties in Dallas. The current rate is 13% of the cost of a room. Currently, seven of those percentage points go to the city and six to the state. Proposition A on the ballot for the Nov. 8 election suggests voters increase the city’s share to nine points. The new two percentage point tax increase could raise $1.5 billion over 30 years.

That hotel occupancy tax increase is to help pay for a new downtown convention center, currently estimated to cost $2 billion. It’s planned to be built adjacent to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, which would be torn down. And up to 20% of the $1.5 billion can also go toward renovating six venues about three miles away at Fair Park, including the Cotton Bowl and the Coliseum. Early voting begins Oct. 24 and ends Nov. 4. But what about this other 2% that people are already paying for hotel rooms? Patrons of Dallas hotels with at least 100 rooms are now also charged a 2% assessment on room rentals. That fee comes from the city’s Tourism Public Improvement District, which since 2012 has generated cash to help market and promote Dallas as a tourism destination. It doesn’t apply to other room rentals like short-term rentals. Technically, it is not a tax, so there’s no mention of it on the ballot. But if you stay at one of the larger hotels in Dallas, it certainly comes out of your wallet. More than 130 hotels are part of the Tourism Public Improvement District. Fewer than 10 are located below Interstate 30, which is commonly viewed as the city’s midpoint that divides wealthier northern and less wealthy southern Dallas.