City Council Passes $3 Surcharge For Birmingham Hotels

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Following the lead of several neighboring cities, Birmingham will place a $3 per night surcharge on hotels in the city limits as a way to raise revenue. The anticipated $4 million in revenue that could be generated by the tax is critical to recruit more major events.

Not everyone is happy about the decision this week by the Birmingham City Council, however. Passage of the surcharge, which initially came up several weeks ago after being proposed by Council President Pro Tem William Parker, came after lengthy debate and opposition from many in the hotel industry. A report by the Birmingham Business Journal said hoteliers exprtessed that the surcharge would have a negative affect on their businesses and would lead customers to stay in neighboring cities with lower taxes.

"We’ve got to compete against these other cities, because if we are able to bring in other sporting events to Birmingham, that’s going to bring in more visitors here," Parker said in the city council meeting on Tuesday. "We need the necessary assets to go out here and compete in order to bring more visitors here to the city of Birmingham, and these are some of the tools necessary to compete."

Parker said the additional revenue will be used to fund recruitment of sports and entertainment events, and could also be used to improve infrastructure at venues like Legion Field.

Cities such as Hoover and Vestavia Hills passed similar taxes last year.