Resident disputes information

On county-wide lodging tax

To say that Muldrow resident Mark Walters is opposed to taxes — any taxes — is an understatement.

He has told anyone who will listen, “we are taxed enough already. Tax, tax, tax is all some people know.”

Monday he renewed his opposition to taxes, in general, and a proposed county lodging tax, in particular, when he espoused his grievances at the Sequoyah County Commissioners weekly meeting during a time set aside for citizens’ presentations, a portion of the meeting in which no action can be taken.

Commissioners chairman Ray Watts told Walters no action has been taken by the commissioners to call for an election of a lodging tax.

“We would have to study this long and hard before we do anything on it,” Watts said.

Walters reined in his anti-tax rhetoric long enough at Monday’s meeting to claim he is not opposed to a lodging tax, per se, but wants assurances that monies collected would benefit the county rather than specific businesses.

Funds collected through lodging taxes are traditionally plowed back into efforts to promote tourism, which benefits lodging destinations as well as peripheral businesses such as gas stations, restaurants, boutiques and grocery stores, to name a few.

This week’s confrontation by Walters was the latest in a twomonth crusade objecting to the lodging tax presented for consideration by the commissioners. The assessment was first detailed at the Oct. 3 commissioners meeting by Greater Tenkiller Area Association executive director Kenyatta Wright and lodging tax advocates Gena McPhail, Cherokee County tourism director, and Ginny Maiden, who owns a bed and breakfast in Cookson and also serves on the Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce and chairs the chamber’s Tourism Council.

The commissioners had not further discussed at their weekly meetings since Oct. 3 the possibility of a county lodging tax, which has yet to be approved by the commissioners or written for presentation to county voters.

Yet in a social media post from Nov. 22, Walters questioned the commissioners’ adherence to the state’s Open Meeting Act, opining that “it seems like they are having meetings for a select group of people and not open to the public.” Walters’ post did not provide further specifics in this allegation.

Walters’ appearance this week at the commissioners meeting came two weeks after he authored a 1,687-word post on social media, dissecting news coverage of Wright’s remarks at the Nov. 16 Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce members meeting where he explained the benefits of a proposed lodging tax and assured his audience that any such tax would only be collected from visitors who spend the night in the county and would not be a tax burden to county residents.

Walters’ social media response: “Now is not the time to try to pass a tax of any kind on anyone.”

“We understand we are in uncertain times, and with the prices of gas, food and everything you buy going up, then we realize now is not the time. The people traveling through Sequoyah County are people just like us. They are faced with these tough times, too,” wrote Walters, whose Facebook page includes a photo of him wearing an “Ultra MAGA” cap and a T-shirt emblazoned with the self-description “I am Mark Walters: the radical, Trump supporting, tax defeating pesty, busybody, jerk from Muldrow.”

“Folks, please don’t be tricked into voting in an additional 4% lodging tax on our friends and family that choose to stay in our county. It just never ends. We are taxed enough already,” Walters said in his post.

In that same social media post, Walters speculated that taxation is a concerted effort by taxmongers. “I think these people just lay awake at night and think up new ways to get more of your money. If they get this passed, they will have another idea in a few years. There should not be taxes on top of taxes, and this is exactly what this is.”

And, according to his social media post, Walters believes Wright has some ulterior motive for championing a county lodging tax, and that Wright and his area businesses will somehow benefit from the new tax.

“Mr. Wright must not understand that there is no such thing as free money … Why does he feel like he should be entitled to a 4% lodging tax to promote his businesses? … He claims he hates the word tax, but he has supported every proposed tax in Sequoyah County the last two years,” Walters trumpets in his social media post.

Walters challenged commissioners Monday to explain why Wright was appearing before the chamber when the lodging tax requires a vote by county residents.

The Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce hosts monthly membership luncheons that are open to the public. These meetings are attended by 75 or more people, which makes it one of the largest ongoing public events where people speak about local business issues.

Consideration of a county lodging tax comes 15 years after Sallisaw established a 5% city hotel-motel tax, which has generated an average of almost $111,000 per year during the past five years.

As far as City Manager Keith Skelton is concerned when weighing the pay-only-whenyou-stay pros against the cons, “there really are no cons to this tax.”

Skelton said in October the tax, which was established in March 2007, “only applies to the hotels within the city limits of Sallisaw. Although I cannot tell you the percentage of the tax paid by local individuals, I can tell you that the largest portion of these collections comes from travelers and visitors from out of town.”

Proceeds from the city’s hotelmotel tax can only be used for youth-related activities and facilities, Skelton stipulated. “Using this tax strictly for youth activities allows us to improve and add to the quality-of-life facilities we currently have.”