Savannah, Ga., mayor lobbies state for hotel tax hike

Savannah, Ga., Mayor Van Johnson insists the Georgia legislature is passing up a “win-win-win” opportunity by delaying action on the city’s request to raise its lodging tax ceiling from the current 6% to 8%, as more than 90 other cities are allowed to do. The new revenue would come not from hoteliers or state or local taxpayers, but from visitors “as a thank-you to Savannah for showing them the time of their lives,” he declares.