Peachtree City staff has been authorized to study a possible increase in the hotel-motel tax rate from 6 to 8 percent.
Along with the increase, the city might be able to spend additional tourism funds on general fund items such as parks and the path system, along with funding the city’s tourism efforts, City Manager Bernie McMullen told council Thursday night.

The next step is for the city to get input from local hotel and motel operators about not just the increase but also potential projects they feel might have an impact on getting people to visit the city or stay longer.

Based on the current 2009-2010 budget, the action would raise an additional $256,000 over the entire budget year, according to city estimates. Of that $256,000, the city’s would realize an increase in its general fund of $128,027, which is 50 percent above the $256,054 currently being collected under the 6 percent rate.

Currently a part of the hotel-motel tax is distributed to the tourism association and another part goes to the city’s Airport Authority for the operation of Falcon Field. Those figures would decrease slightly under the proposed increase to 8 percent.

The increase, if adopted by council, would still need approval of the Georgia legislature and the governor’s signature before it could be increased.

The legislature and governor typically rubber-stamp local legislation that is approved by the local delegation, but with state tax revenues down, uncomfortable belt-tightening statewide, and unemployment remaining high, any proposed tax increase is likely to withstand increased scrutiny this year.