Franklin County Commission agrees to ordinance to double local bed tax

Franklin county commissioners on Tuesday approved the wording of an ordinance to double the local tourist development tax.

The board voted 4 to 1 to approve the wording of the ordinance, but the ordinance itself will not take effect until local voters decide the issue in November.

If voters approve the increase the higher bed tax would take effect on January the 1^st, if voters reject the measure the ordinance will not take effect.

The Franklin County Tourist Development tax was approved by voters in 2005 to help promote tourism in Franklin County.

A Tourist development Council oversees and distributes money raised through the local bed tax which is collected from every hotel, motel and rental house in the county.

Since 2005 the tax has raised nearly 7 million dollars, much of which has been spent on local festivals and events and for funding local groups like the Dixie Theatre and the Camp Gordon Johnston Museum.

The money is also used to promote the county - and one of the reasons the TDC is seeking an increase in the tax is because they saw a substantial increase in tourism when they had additional BP money to spend on promotion after the BP oil spill.

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