Wyandotte County, KS Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 8% of gross lodging receipts
- Covered stays
- Hotels, motels, STRs, B&Bs, tourist courts
- Geographic reach
- City limits of Kansas City, Kansas only
- Minimum annual tourism spend
- $1,050,000 of receipts
- Authority
- Charter Ordinance No. CO-01-18, Sept. 27, 2018
- State law displaced
- K.S.A. 12-1697(a) and 12-16,101
Summary
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas levies an 8% transient guest tax on gross receipts from sleeping accommodations at hotels, motels, short-term rentals, bed-and-breakfasts and tourist courts inside the city limits of Kansas City, Kansas. Charter Ordinance No. CO-01-18 opted out of the state's tax framework to set this local rate and dedicate the proceeds to tourism.
Section 3. In order to provide revenues to promote tourism, conventions, and economic development related to tourism, the governing body of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, is hereby authorized to levy a transient guest tax at a rate not to exceed eight percent, and does hereby levy a transient guest tax at the rate of eight percent, upon the gross receipts derived from or paid directly or through an accommodations broker by transient guests for sleeping accommodations, exclusive of charges for incidental services or facilities, in any hotel, motel, transient accommodations, short-term rental, bed-and-breakfast or tourist court within the boundaries of the City of Kansas City, Kansas. Section 4. All such receipts derived from the transient guest tax shall be placed in a Convention and Tourism Fund to be used for the promotion of conventions, the promotion of tourism, and economic development related to tourism within Kansas City, Kansas. A minimum of one million fifty thousand dollars and NO/100 ($1,050,000.00) of such receipts shall be spent on the promotion of tourism on an annual basis.
Full Breakdown
Because Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas share one Unified Government, this is a single citywide tax, not a separate county or city levy. A. A. 12-16,101 (the state's convention and tourism committee statute), replacing both with Charter Ordinance No. CO-01-18, adopted September 27, 2018, which repealed the prior Charter Ordinance No. 03-08. Section 3 authorizes and levies the tax at eight percent on gross receipts "derived from or paid directly or through an accommodations broker by transient guests for sleeping accommodations," explicitly reaching short-term rentals and bed-and-breakfasts alongside hotels, motels and tourist courts, and explicitly booked-through-broker stays (covering platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo).
Charges for incidental services or facilities are excluded from the taxable base. The tax applies only "within the boundaries of the City of Kansas City, Kansas," so it does not reach Bonner Springs or Edwardsville, the two other incorporated cities inside Wyandotte County that keep their own municipal codes. Section 4 requires every dollar collected to go into a dedicated Convention and Tourism Fund and sets a floor: at least $1,050,000 of annual receipts must be spent specifically on tourism promotion, not general county or city operations.
Under Section 7, the ordinance took effect 61 days after its second weekly publication in The Wyandotte Echo, subject to a referendum petition signed by at least 10 percent of the electors who voted in the last preceding regular election.
Violations & Fines
Charter Ordinance No. CO-01-18 itself sets no separate misdemeanor or fine schedule for nonpayment; it is a revenue-levy ordinance, not a penal one. Collection runs through the Unified Government's standard tax administration and audit authority, with accommodations brokers and property operators both on the hook for remitting the 8% on gross lodging receipts. Because the fund is earmarked, any receipts diverted from the Convention and Tourism Fund or from the $1,050,000 minimum tourism-spending requirement would put the Unified Government itself out of compliance with Section 4.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hotel tax rate in Kansas City, Kansas?
Does the tax apply to Airbnb and other short-term rentals?
Does this tax apply in Bonner Springs or Edwardsville?
Where does the transient guest tax money go?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Wyandotte County
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