Commission begins discussion of hotel recruitment

Published on June 11, 2025

At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Commission discussed offering possible incentives to recruit a new hotel to Newton.

Hotel stays are an important contributor to the local economy from visitors, business travel, and multi-day events. Newton has missed out on the economic impact of overnight visitors during recent large-scale events like the U.S. Adaptive Open because attendees could not find local lodging and instead stayed in Park City or Wichita. The Meridian Center has reported it has missed hosting several statewide conferences because of the shortage of suitable hotel rooms.

A number of other cities, including McPherson, Goddard and Andover, have offered a package of tax incentives to recruit hotels. Such incentives often include Industrial Revenue Bonds for property and sales tax exemptions, Community Improvement Districts to finance infrastructure, and Transient Guest Tax rebates.

Newton has several locations suitable for a new hotel, including the I-135 corridor, near downtown to support rail travel and revitalization efforts, and the south-side Occidental property near NMC Health and Sand Creek Station Golf Course.

The Commission directed staff to move forward with developing a draft recruitment package to be discussed at a future meeting.

In other action, the City Commission:

• Approved an agreement with Garver for design engineering of East First Street improvements between Spencer and Oliver to serve industrial development. After much discussion in the past few months, the Harvey County Commission agreed to contribute half the cost of the design work, so the City and County will split the cost of the $486,990 contract.
• Began the special assessment process in preparation to bond public infrastructure projects for Fox Ridge Addition and the First and Spencer traffic signal project. Special assessments are fees levied on the properties that will benefit from the improvements to help pay for the construction. A hearing for affected property owners is scheduled for July 8.
• Proclaimed June as Pride Month.
• Approved a temporary alcohol permit for the free Borderline Natives concert on the lawn at Military Park on June 27.

For more information, please contact Communications Director Erin McDaniel at 316-284-6055 or emcdaniel@newtonkansas.com.