BATON ROUGE – It's not just the mayor's office who is pushing a tax for an upcoming ballot.

The city's tourist officials announced Friday, they hope voters approve a hotel occupancy tax in November. Tax would go up by two cents if approved. The tax would be charged on rooms rented at Baton Rouge hotels.

The revenue generated will be evenly split between Visit Baton Rouge and the Raising Cane’s River Center, officials said in a news release.

 “Everyone in Baton Rouge is affected positively by tourism – from being able to enjoy popular artists, acts, concerts and sporting events to the impact felt by our local businesses, hotels, restaurants, attractions and shops when visitors are spending dollars in our Baton Rouge economy,” said Paul Arrigo, Visit Baton Rouge President & CEO.

“The River Center is the anchor for entertainment and enrichment for the Capital Region, and the reality is that it has had few upgrades since it was built in 1977. Our industry is competitive and for Baton Rouge to attract larger conventions and concerts, we desperately need to bring the facility up to current standards,” said Michael Day, Raising Cane’s River Center General Manager. “This measure would create a recurring revenue stream each year, paid for by out of town visitors coming here, that would allow us to upgrade our facility to be the premiere regional venue for the type of marquee events that we deserve.”

A similar tax proposal failed in a sweeping denial of taxes last year. In December, voters denied all but one tax measure.  

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