Year-to-date Van Buren hospitality taxes down 3.4%

Van Buren hospitality tax collections reported for April came in at $32,593, 7.4% lower than April 2008.

For the first four months of 2009, visitors to the city’s hotels and restaurants generated $126,992 in hospitality taxes, down 3.4% over the $131,485 in the same period of 2008. Van Buren collects a 1% tax on lodging and restaurants.

The 2009 figures will be compared against a healthy 2008, during which the city’s hotels and restaurants were boosted by the thousands of people in the Fort Smith/Van Buren area as part of recovery efforts from hail and wind storms.

Van Buren hospitality tax collections in 2008 totaled $410,914, up 7.4% over 2007 and up more than 14.5% over 2006.