Interesting story in today's USA Today about the rise in hotel property taxes across the country--and how Dallas is way above the national average. That's what PKF Consulting, an Atlanta-based company that keeps tabs on the hospitality biz, says and the paper repeats: "The average hotel tax bill nationally rose 6.2 percent last year, the biggest jump since 1987." But in Miami and Charlotte, hotels' property taxes rose by 10 percent...and in Dallas, they increased nearly 19 percent. It doesn't say how much of that increase stems from new hotel construction and how many of those hotels got tax breaks from the city; not gonna go there this morning. But this is what Ken Nolan, the chief appraiser at the Dallas Central Appraisal District, tells USA Today:
"[He] says the surge in property taxes there comes as out-of-state investors are driving up property values for all income-producing properties, including malls and warehouses. Furthermore, Dallas hotels saw a windfall last year when Hurricane Katrina unexpectedly pushed convention business into Texas, he says. Hotels, Nolan says, 'weren't being mistreated.'"
In related news, did you know the W Hotel's open? Just checking. --Robert Wilonsky
