Door County’s September Room Tax Collections Up 0.9 Percent

The latest room tax returns are in, and the upswing in collections continued in September.

September collections were up 0.9 percent over September 2009, a figure likely to increase slightly when late returns are filed. For the year, room tax collections are up 4.7 percent, putting the county on pace to surpass last year’s total by nearly $94,000. The 5.5 percent room tax on lodging was implemented in May of 2007 and adopted by all 19 Door County municipalities for the first time in 2009.

Room tax collections are split three ways – 66 percent goes to the Door County Visitor Bureau to use for the promotion of overnight stays, 4 percent goes to administrative costs, and the remaining 30 percent goes back to the individual municipalities in which it was collected. Those municipalities can use the funds however they see fit. Most of the peninsula’s municipalities have used the bulk of the funds to support tourism-related activities, such as business associations, marketing, beautification, or enhancement of attractions.

Thus far, the Town of Gibraltar leads the county in collections with $396,665, followed by the City of Sturgeon Bay with $368,721 and Ephraim with $348,308. Sister Bay is the only other community to exceed $300,000 in collections so far with $318,468.

The number of room nights filled in 2010 is up 11,725 over 2009 through September.

Percentage increase in room tax collections by month over 2009

January: 14.8%

February: 8.7%

March: 5.2%

April: 10.8%

May: 1.9%

June: 6.4%

July: 9.4%

August: 0.8%

September: 0.9%

374,874

Room nights filled in Door County through September 2010