Correction: Lodging Tax story

GLEN ARBOR, Mich. – In a story Feb. 15 about a legal challenge to a lodging tax in northern Michigan, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the tax is 5 per cent, based on information from the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. The rate paid to Sleeping Bear Dunes Visitors Bureau is 2 per cent. It could increase to 5 per cent.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Michigan inn owner sues over 2 per cent tourism tax

The owner of two inns in northern Michigan is challenging a room tax that’s used to promote tourism around Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

The owner of two inns in northern Michigan is challenging a room tax that’s used to promote tourism around Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

David Gersenson runs Sylvan Inn and Lakeshore Inn in Glen Arbor. A lawsuit filed this week could have consequences for tourism promotion programs around the state that rely on a special room tax. More than 50 tourism agencies collect one.

Gersenson says he can effectively advertise on his own. He says the 2 per cent tax collected by Sleeping Bear Dunes Visitors Bureau violates his First Amendment rights. It could increase to 5 per cent. State law allows tourism agencies to levy a fee if lodging owners vote.

The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation is representing the inns. A similar lawsuit was dropped last year after a Cheboygan County resort owner sold his property.