Gering council to consider repeal of lodging tax

The Gering city council will consider repealing the four and a half percent lodging tax approved just a little over a month ago when they meet Tuesday evening. The tax is being proposed for recreation improvements including a possible multi-million dollar sports complex.

The implementation of the tax on July 1st is currently suspended and council member Larry Gibbs placed total repeal of the tax on the next council agenda after Scottsbluff council members did not support the tax, which would have provided the extra money to fund the sports complex. The tax from the two Gering motels would provide just less than $50,000 annually to the city. But the Gering motel representatives have been adamantly against the idea, claiming they would be at a competitive disadvantage with their Scottsbluff counterparts if the tax was established only in Gering.

Gering Mayor Ed Mayo, the main supporter of the proposed recreation complex, has placed on the Tuesday council agenda consideration of putting out RFP's for a feasibility study on the sports complex, which the Scottsbluff council members said they needed before considering a lodging tax in their community.

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