Cities concerned about losing bulk of hotel room taxes to state

BROOKFIELD - Municipalities are lining up against a bill in the state legislature that would take 70% of hotel room taxes and use it for state tourism advertising. The City of Brookfield's Common Council already voted unanimously on a resolution asking the legislature to reject the idea. New Berlin expects to vote on a similar resolution Tuesday night. These communities use the bulk of the hotel room tax on general expenses. If Brookfield loses it, they would find themselves in a 1.1 million dollar budget hole. With the strict state imposed levies they wouldn't be able raise real estate taxes to make up the money, but officials don't think it's fair for tax payers to pay for it.  New Berlin would lose almost 250-thousand dollars. Both communities believe the state has been taking away too much local control and hurting cities while solving their budget problems.