AURORA | Mayor Steve Hogan on Wednesday threw his support behind hiking the city’s lodging tax and building several community centers and swimming pools.
During his annual State of the City speech, Hogan said the added tax revenue would be used to support Visit Aurora, the city’s tourism-promotion branch that Hogan said has helped make Aurora a destination for out-of-towners seeking specialized medical care her.
“The result will be more improved opportunities for our citizens and new, different activities for visitors to this wonderful city,” he told the crowd at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The city’s lodging tax rate is 8 percent and is levied on all hotel and motel rooms, according to city documents.
Hogan didn’t get into specifics about his proposal, but said the city hasn’t had a tax hike in 20 years and he would like city council to ask voters for a “reasonable increase in the lodging tax.”
The mayor also said in the next few weeks he will present several ideas to city council about improving the city, among those ideas are new pools and community centers.
Specifically, Hogan said he wants one recreation center, one community and active adult center, and one covered swimming pool for every 100,000 residents.
Today, the city has more than 330,000 residents and just one active adult center, one recreation center and two indoor swimming pools.
How Hogan’s push for several new community centers will be received by city voters is unclear. In 2011, voters shot down a tax hike for recreation centers by a 3-to-1 margin. That plan called for a property tax hike of about $5-per-month on a home valued at $200,000, money that would have paid for three new recreation centers.
Hogan’s started his speech Wednesday by discussing last year’s massacre at an Aurora movie theater that left 12 dead and more than 50 injured.
The July 20 rampage put the world’s eyes on Aurora and the tragedy will always be a part of the city’s history. Hogan said.
“But it will not define us,” he said.
In the days after the shootings, Hogan said the world saw Aurora come together and help each other out during a difficult time.
The Mayor, looking for a solution to a problem created by city council. Council Members created Visit Aurora from the top down. They defined the duties for Visit Aurora and then found a hired gun to implement those duties, most of which was being done by the Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately there was not sufficient money to fund this new program after the salaries of those managing Visit Aurora were set.
The Mayor’s solution, increase taxes. Why not reduce the salary for Visit Aurora’s manager, increase percentage of lodgers tax to Visit Aurora, put Visit Aurora’s duties under City of Aurora’s publicity officer, or simply return the operation to the Chamber of Commerce?
Appears that the City policy makers are following their tried and true management philosophy; ready, shoot, aim, paint a bullseye.
If people come here seeking specialized medical care, many probably bring loved ones with them who need lodging while treatment is being administered. You don’t have a problem making it more expensive for those people than it already is?
Is your swimming pool dream that important to you? You are the same people who couldn’t manage to keep our libraries open, remember?
As for the theatre massacre, you are the ones keeping it alive and are encouraging Aurora to be defined by it since it happened. I hear you are about to do it again one year later.
I’m starting to think you all need some specialized mental care of your own. What don’t you get? Aurora was put on the map because a horrifying CRIME happened here. Aurora has always had a reputation for and been perceived as a high crime city. But hey, let’s ride the media wave off the backs of the devastated and make hay while we can by reminding the world what happened here every chance we get.
This whole thing is sick!