The City collects a seven percent (7%) room tax on overnight stays at hotels and motels in the community. Each year, a portion of the funds are then redistributed through the Hotel/Motel Grant Program, which awards non-profit organizations that work to increase tourism in Marion. The grant application process opens in April of each year.
Under Iowa Code Section 423A.7, a city that has lawfully established a hotel/motel tax must spend at least 50 percent of related revenues for “the acquisition of sites for, or constructing, improving, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operating, or maintaining of recreation, convention, cultural, or entertainment facilities including but not limited to memorial buildings, halls and monuments, civic center convention buildings, auditoriums, coliseums, and parking areas or facilities…or for the promotion and encouragement of tourist and convention business in the city or county and surrounding areas.” Any remaining revenues may be spent by the city for any other lawful city purpose.
