CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Kingsville has ambitious plans to renovate the building that currently houses the King Ranch Museum and Henrietta Memorial Center.
This as the King Ranch plans to move the museum to another location.
The goal is to transform the space into an events and an interactive nature center. However, they'll require funding and approval from voters.
On the November ballot, "Prop A," separate from the one under consideration in Corpus Christi, will determine whether the city of Kingsville can allocate a portion of the hotel tax to rejuvenate the building.
Kingsville Quality Inn owner Kamlesh Bhikha is preparing for a busy fall season driven by festivals and football. He said that increased visitors in Kingsville translate to more business for hotel owners.
"No mater what side you see it, we are winners. Let's move forward, and get more people in town," he said.
Specifically, Bhikha is referring to "Prop A," which will be presented to voters in the special election on Nov. 7. This proposal aims to institute a venue tax, equivalent to a 2% hotel occupancy tax. Residents may be familiar with the term "hot tax." It's a percentage added to the bill of individuals staying at local hotels or short-term rentals. It is estimated to generate up to $185,000 annually for the city.
"So this is not a tax that is paid by local citizens, this is for visitors. Its a similar tax that we would pay if we were to go visit somewhere, San Antonio or out of state," said Brad Womak.
Businessman and local resident Brad Womak stated that the objective of "Prop A" is to finance a nature and events center to be situated at the Henrietta Memorial Center, where the King Ranch Museum is housed.
"It will bring in new tourism and be an educational opportunity for students in our area. It's great opportunity for us to invest in our city without footing the bill," he said.
The City of Kingsville unveiled renderings on their website of what center would look like. They said the venue tax would help support the operations, maintenance, and renovation of it with the idea of attracting more visitors.
They also stressed that the venue tax is not a property tax and will not be added to your property tax bill.
"It's really important people get out to vote, it's a non-traditional election cycle for Kingsville. We don't have mayoral candidates, there's no other city elections, it's really just a two proposition ballot, he said.
Meanwhile, the King Ranch is in the process of exploring a plan to move their museum to Downtown Kingsville, adjacent to the saddle shop. Business owners, including Bhikha, expressed their readiness to progress.
"We met with city manager and the mayor and all hotels are on board, let's do it," he said.
Early voting begins Monday, October 23.
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