Council agenda: 1,900 homes and the lodging tax
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It's that time of the every-other-Thursday again, and Huntsville City Council has another meaty agenda tonight.
The big picture: Several rezonings will be scheduled for public hearings at later meetings, including the almost 1,883-unit Harris Farms Planned Development, set for more than 500 acres in North Huntsville.
Zoom in: The council is expected to schedule a final hearing July 23 on rezoning the lot just north of Bob Wade Lane near the Northern Bypass and North Memorial Parkway intersection.
- Per the agenda, Harris Farms is planning to construct 1,538 single-family dwellings in both attached and detached buildings, as well as 345 units in multi-family buildings.
The latest: The city will also weigh a 1% increase, from 9% to 10%, of its lodging taxes paid for hotel room nights, and potentially designating that 1% for civic center support.
- The changes add a new paragraph to the city's code, earmarking 1% of the fee to be used "for the support and operation of a civic center, including but not limited to: planning; construction; maintenance; repair; renovation; expansion; or demolition and replacement of civic center facilities."
By the numbers: Those taxes produced $19.76 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, per Huntsville's latest Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, of which 1% comes to $197,000.
- Those revenues have been growing steadily, too, from about $7.5 million in 2015 to $14.2 million in 2019 to the $19.76 million in 2024, per the report.
- Currently, 5% of the 9% goes to "planning operation, maintenance and expansion of a visitor's bureau, a civic center and a sports commission," 1% to recreational facilities and 1%, along with $1 of the per-day fee, to the promotion of tourism.
- The remaining 2%, and $1 of the $2 fee, goes to "projects involving the expansion, renovation, or repair of a civic center and/or amphitheater."
What we're watching: Plans are moving ahead, with Huntsville's latest Tax Increment Financing District, for a $200-million expansion of the Von Braun Center as it competes for big events that bring big business to the city.