Rock Valley, Iowa — Voters in the city of Rock Valley will be going to the polls in early March to decide if they want to impose a hotel/motel tax on guests who stay in their community.
According to City of Rock Valley personnel, if the proposal is approved by the Rock Valley voters, guests that stay at the Heartland Hotel & Suites or the GrandStay Hotel & Suites in Rock Valley will pay a 7% tax in addition to the 5% state excise tax on room rental. They tell us that if the measure is passed, it’s estimated that the tax will generate $60,000 to $90,000 annually. They say all the money will stay in Rock Valley.
The City Council has agreed that at least 50% of the revenue generated will be used for constructing or maintaining recreation or entertainment facilities in Rock Valley. The remaining funds will be used for marketing the community and funding local grants for special events and community projects.
City Administrator Tom Van Maanen says that they believe this is a unique opportunity to generate funds for trail construction, building shelter houses and many other projects that will benefit the community.
Van Maanen says that currently, there are 163 towns and 19 counties in Iowa that have already approved the Hotel Motel Tax. Locally Orange City, Sheldon, Sibley, Sioux Center, and Lyon County receive funds from a Hotel-Motel Tax.
The poll will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. on March 5th at the Faith Reformed Church in Rock Valley.
Absentee voting is underway now. You can request a ballot be mailed to you if you are a Rock Valley citizen. But the request has to be on an official absentee ballot request form, which can be found at https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/pdf/absenteeballotapp.pdf. The Sioux County Auditor’s office says that the deadline for them to mail out ballots out is Friday, February 22, 2019. They also tell us that the deadline to early vote in person at the Auditor’s office is Monday, March 4th.
