Before setting the property tax rate last night, the City Council, by an 8-4 vote, approved increasing the hotel/motel tax from 4 to 6 percent.
The increase on the rooms tax, which will mean about about $400,000 in fiscal 2010 revenue to the city this year and about $800,000 in fiscal 2011, also allowed the council to approve a lower property tax rate for homeowners for this fiscal year.
The increase in the hotel/motel tax means the average homeowners' tax bill next year will go up $238, instead of $250.
The increase in the occupancy tax allowed the council to set the property tax rate for homeowners at $12.54 per $1,000 of assessed value instead of $12.58, and for commercial properties, a rate of $28.67 per $1,000 of assessed value, instead of $28.74.
Mayor Jeannette McCarthy had asked the council to approve the increase in the rooms tax.
Gov. Deval Patrick has allowed cities and towns to raise taxes for restaurant meals by .75 percent and hike the hotel/motel tax by 2 percent to offset steep cuts in local aid.
Ward 9 Councilor Robert Logan said that the rooms tax hike would not affect Waltham residents, because mainly they aren't the ones staying in the city's hotels.
He said if the council didn't approve the hotel/motel tax increase, it would have to put a greater property tax burden on homeowners.
"I'd rather collect it from people coming from out of town," Logan said.
Logan named several cities and towns, including Newton, that recently voted for similar increases.
"Certainly other communities are adopting it," he said.
Voting against an increase in the rooms tax were councilors Sally Collura, Joe Giordano, Robert Kelly and Patrick O'Brien.
Giordano said he was worried the tax would force the corporate clientele that uses the city's hotels for seminars and functions to look more closely at the "bottom line" and take their business elsewhere.
"So, instead of gaining $400,000 we're going to end up losing money," Giordano said.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
