Room-Tax Collections Up 2 Percent in November

Countywide room-tax collections in November increased 2 percent compared to last year, according to a preliminary report from the Door County Tourism Zone Commission. The absolute growth in dollars was just $1,908, but the off-season growth signals a consistent trend of gains through 2018.

The additional revenue in November was primarily due to an increase in room rates, which were up $13 to an average of $119 per night. Occupancy rates decreased by one percentage point to 20.6 percent.

Year-to-date collections are up 4.9 percent, or $225,323, with one report on December collections left for the year.

Room-tax collections during the slower winter months are typically nominal, amounting to just one-tenth of collections during the summer months. Although municipalities do rely on room-tax dollars to support their budgets, relative shifts in winter months are unlikely to change their bottom lines much.

The Town of Baileys Harbor had a particularly strong month, registering a 64 percent increase in room-tax collections. The Village of Egg Harbor and the Town of Gibraltar also saw modest gains.

Although countywide collections increased from last year, half of the municipalities saw declines in November. Room-tax collections in the Town of Nasewaupee collapsed in November, declining 69 percent, but it makes up just 2 percent of room-tax collections in the county.

Year to date, Nasewaupee is the only municipality to show a decline (1.21 percent) from 2017. The Town of Egg Harbor, the Town of Sturgeon Bay and Liberty Grove were the most improved municipalities in 2018, registering increases of 9.38 percent, 27.82 percent and 10.59 percent, respectively.

At the time of the preliminary report, there were 65 properties that had not yet reported their room-tax collections, so totals may increase slightly when November data are updated in next month’s report.