ELGIN – Elgin Mayor JJ Francais is headed for another four-year stint in office.
Francais, who sought his second term on the council, defeated challengers Holly Martinez and Hannah Vaughn in the April 1 election for the mayor’s office, according to unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board. Francais came in first with 249 votes, or 49.60% of the total. Martinez finished second with 242 votes, or 48.21% of the total. Vaughn finished last with 11 votes, or a little more than 2% of the total.
Francais did not return an email message seeking comment by press time.
Lodging tax Elgin’s proposal to impose a 7% lodging tax on room rental rates for hotels and motels passed easily, with 331 votes for the measure and 164 votes against it.
Hotel and motel owners will charge the tax in addition to other cityand state-imposed sales taxes. The Oklahoma Tax Commission will collect the tax and remit the proceeds to the city.
Half of the proceeds will go into the city’s general fund for infrastructure upgrades, and the rest will go to the Elgin Economic Development Authority.
Part of the authority’s share will be used to provide an incentive for hotel developers interested in building a hotel in Elgin.
Francais has said Elgin needs to offer some kind of incentive to compete with other Oklahoma cities trying to recruit a hotel developer.