Checking into Carbondale's newest hotel comes with a $109 room rate for two queen beds, breakfast, high speed Web access and satellite television. There's also a 5 percent municipal hotel/motel tax in addition to sales tax for a total $124.26 bill.

Check into lodging at one of Jackson County's nine bed and breakfasts and the bill total will add up to the cost of the room rate and sales tax. No "bed tax," as some in the hospitality industry call it, appears on the final bill.

This inequity could find itself balanced in coming weeks.

On June 11, Jackson County Board finance committee members will consider a proposal to adopt a 4 percent lodging tax to cover bed and breakfasts, cabins and other lodging facilities. The proposed ordinance would then go before the full county board on June 13.

Proposed by the Carbondale Convention and Visitors Bureau officials, this idea to close the lodging loophole was first raised at the county's finance committee meeting in April.

At the time, bureau director Debbie Moore and bureau board president Sam Goldman said such a tax would raise about $43,000 a year � money that could go far in helping promote and market those same facilities that pay the tax.

It was also pointed out to county committee members that this new revenue could be divvied up between the cities of Carbondale and Murphysboro to put that money to work for tourism promotion.

Some taxes seem to make more sense than others and we believe this one does. For the most part, the tax will be paid by non-residents, providing a nice little windfall to the benefit of the county's citizenry.

This tax money only bolsters county tourism as a contributor to the region's economic development initiatives, and tourism is certainly vital to our local economy. Increased tourism leads to greater occupancy rates for all innkeepers � and more revenue for those businesses.

The proposed extension of the bed tax also levels the playing field between lodging facilities in the tourism marketing plans. Certainly no business owner would be happy to pay an additional tax, but most people expect to pay a lodging tax and it shouldn't be a surprise to any guest seeing it on the bill when they check out. If proprietors have a problem paying the tax, they should consider doing what other retailers and services do � pass it on to their customers.

This is the formula for tourism success used nationwide in many communities. The proceeds from bed taxes are used to promote more tourism, which brings in more business and more money for the community.