The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Baltimore:
Hand-in-Our-Pockets Hotel

Jul 17, 2017

Baltimore’s downtown Hilton Hotel has lost more than five million dollars this year–just as it has lost money every year since it opened in 2008. Three city administrations ago, Baltimore officials agreed to a deal with Hilton for its name to be on this hotel. City officials agreed to build the hotel with 300 million dollars in bonds. The bonds were supposed to be paid back out of revenues from the hotel.

But Hilton has never admitted that the hotel is making a profit. So the city pays the “deficit.” That means Baltimore taxpayers pay the “deficit.” Just as they pay for another part of the deal–a rebate of 93 % for the hotel’s four-million-dollars-a-year in property taxes. And Hilton also gets three million dollars a year for “managing” the hotel.

Hilton and the city may not call all this money a “profit”–but whatever they call it, it’s another way to dig into the pockets of Baltimore’s population to benefit Hilton Hotels.