URBANA — October will bring higher prices for liquor and hotel rooms in Urbana after the city council this week approved two tax increases Mayor Laurel Prussing says will ease the effect of union contracts on a tight budget.

The council on Monday formally approved the measures that will raise the hotel-motel tax from 5 to 6 percent and create a new 1 percent tax on package liquor sales. Together, the two increases are expected to bring $270,000 in additional revenue.

Most of that money would help fund contractual pay increases for employees in the city's police union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.

The only dissenting vote on Monday came from Heather Stevenson, R-6, who said that she does not necessarily oppose the taxes themselves but that they came about too suddenly. She wanted the city council to allow more time for hotel managers and liquor store owners to review the proposals.

The two taxes passed with no public opposition from representatives of local businesses. The 1 percent package liquor tax attracted no objection during public sessions in Urbana, while a 4 percent version of the same tax in Champaign was defeated by vocal disapproval last month.

Ray Ceresa, general manager of the Eastland Suites, said on Tuesday that the hotel-motel tax increase probably will not have much of an effect on the local market.

"It is in line with competitive markets," Ceresa said. "I don't foresee us losing any business, and that's my No. 1 concern."

As long as Urbana can stay competitive with other similar markets, like Bloomington-Normal and Peoria, there should not be a problem, he said. A typical night's stay in an Eastland Suites room will cost a visitor $81, Ceresa said, meaning the tax increase would cost 81 cents on average.

"I'd like to see that 1 percent go toward funding for the CVB (Champaign County Convention and Visitors Bureau), but that's a completely different story," Ceresa said.

Earlier in the night, the city council had upheld Prussing's veto of $72,000 in funds for the CVB. Most council members agreed that they want the city to support the tourism bureau, but not at the previous level.

That meant the city council will need to find money elsewhere in the budget to promote tourism, and on Monday, they were already toying with the idea of raising the taxes they would approve later in the night.

Alderman Brandon Bowersox, D-4, tossed out numbers like 1.25 percent for the package liquor tax or 6.5 percent for the hotel-motel tax.

"Because of the desire to find CVB funding, we may be revisiting these later," Bowersox said.