Karl Gillespie
Raleigh – Looking to tie up a loose end, a bill sponsored by a state representative has reached the Senate Rules Committee.
House Bill 133 – “Graham County Occupancy Tax” – passed the N.C. House of Representatives in March. State Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Franklin) presented the bill to the Senate Finance Committee on June 28; it successfully passed through the layer of legality and heads to the rules committee.
“This will be six years that we’ve been working on this,” Gillespie said in an April interview with The Graham Star. “I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to get something resolved this time.”
Even at 3 percent, the virtues of the cash flow from the bill successfully becoming law cannot be understated. As it stands right now, the largest municipality – and the county seat for Graham, Robbinsville – does not collect an occupancy tax, while popular vacation destinations peppered around the perimeter of the county provides to the cause.
And while locations like Fontana Village Resort, Snowbird Mountain Lodge and Tapoco Lodge carry their respective shares of the water, Mountain Manor Motel, Quality Inn & Suites, San-Ran Motel – all located within the Robbinsville city limits – are unable to contribute to the cause.
It seems like a slam dunk – yet, Gillespie pointed out in April that bills similar to this have already been introduced twice – once by Gillespie, and once by state Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin) when he served in the House – to no avail.
The bill was on the fast track after Gillespie first introduced it Feb. 13. Two weeks later, it passed the House Committee 111-5 and after the nod from the Senate Rules Committee, mediation to finally get the legislation on the books can begin.
“I have had numerous conversations with Sen. Corbin about it; he is working to get it heard over there,” Gillespie said in April. “There’s occupancy tax bills that have passed the Senate this year, and they’re not moving them. The Senate rules and House rules do not match, so we’re going to have to make sure they hear the bills, change them to match their rules and then send them back to us, but we won’t agree to the changes. Then, it will go to a group appointed by the Senate pro temp and the speaker.
“It will be up to the group to work out the differences.”
Included in the bill is the caveat that after 3 percent has been collected on $500,000 in gross proceeds, the remaining surplus will see a 1-percent collection by the county. In turn, Graham County Travel & Tourism can use the funding to help promote – what else? – tourism, but only in areas of Graham County that fall under the occupancy-tax jurisdiction.
“It seems like a pretty common-sense thing to do,” Gillespie said. “I’m typically opposed to taxes, but I’m on board with this one because the tax is not being paid by the local folks: it’s the folks that are traveling through that pay the tax.”
Gillespie later said he believes the bill would be passed by the end of 2023.