Jill Schramm/MDN Stephanie Schoenrock, executive director of Visit Minot, discusses a hotel extended stay leisure fee with the Minot City Council Monday.

Extended stay hotel guests in Minot would begin paying a leisure fee of a dollar a day under an ordinance approved on first reading by the Minot City Council Monday.

Visit Minot had proposed a leisure fee to the council in September. The ordinance language considered on Monday provides for a $1 leisure fee to be collected for each day the extended stay customer stays at the hotel or motel, beginning on the first day of the stay.

Currently, the city charges a 3% lodging tax on stays of 30 days or fewer. There is no tax on a stay that is longer than 30 days. City staff report administration of the lodging tax is becoming more burdensome due to some hotels stringing together multiple short-term reservations to exceed the 30-day limit and avoid the tax.

Should the ordinance pass on final reading, extended stay hotel and motel guests would pay the leisure fee only. The lodging tax would remain for stays of no more than 30 days.

The fee, like the lodging tax, would be used to promote tourism. The fee is estimated to provide $75,000 in additional revenue annually, which would pass through to Visit Minot.

In reporting to the council, Stephanie Schoenrock, executive director of Visit Minot, cited a 17% increase in visitors from more than 50 miles away between January and August compared to a year earlier. She noted a $13 million economic impact from 34 sports tournaments in 2024.

Schoenrock said the concern is the number of hours that people stay. Data show 24 million tourists come to North Dakota compared to 17 million to South Dakota, but tourists may stay in South Dakota for a night or two and Minot sees them for a few hours. The reason for the North Dakota Department of Commerce’s investment in destination development is to persuade people to stay longer, she said.