There is a City of Manteca ATM going in on Daniels Street.

Unlike the ATM at your neighborhood 7-Eleven, this one has 101 rooms and a swimming pool.

The builder calls it Staybridge Suites.

The city calls it Pay Day.

That’s because those people occupying motel rooms — almost all who are not Manteca residents — pay 12 percent on top of their room charge for what is known as a transit occupancy tax.

The room tax is now generating $6.5 million a year for Manteca’s general fund.

It is now the city’s third largest source of revenue for the $67.8 million portion of the budget that is unrestricted and covers day-to-day operating expenses.

And to be clear, a large chunk of that — which is generated by the ultimate ATM dubbed Great Wolf — goes back to the indoor waterpark resort.

It is part of the enticement package that Manteca used to land the resort.

The split of what the 500-room hotel generates in room tax ends in just over 20 years

That deal includes a base annual amount of $2 million, excludes money generated by voters in 2018 approving Measure J to jump the room tax from 9 to 12 percent, and payment for select development fees imposed by the city.

Now that the fourth year of the deal is almost here, Manteca will be pocketing 25 percent of the original 9 percent room tax the split is based on for room tax that Great Wolf collects beyond $2 million a year.

For the city’s bottom line, that means the city’s unencumbered room tax is right around $3 million, with more than half of that from Great Wolf guests.

After 10 years, room tax beyond the first $2 million Great Wolf collects, is split 50-50.

Then at the completion of the 25th year, all room tax — including the first $2 million — goes to the city.

Meanwhile, what Great Wolf brass said will happen based on its experience in other markets is happening in Manteca.

The city is enjoying a boom in hotel construction — all with rooms where 100 percent of the transit occupancy tax goes back to the city.

The 78-room Tru by Hilton was completed last year on Northwoods Avenue, Staybridge Suites is underway, the 117-rooom Courtyard by Marriott has been approved for Atherton Drive, and a 100-plus room WoodSpring Suites is being proposed along the Airport Way corridor.

Another hotel is envisioned at Orchard Valley, but given how indecisive the owners of the overall development have been over the years after getting Bass Pro right, don’t bet the farm on it happening.

The CliffsNotes version of the city’s Great Wolf deal is to make three points.

*The split, which was necessary to avoid having to float a bond and such that would have put local taxpayers at risk, was needed to secure the resort. The room tax split insulates taxpayers unlike the Garden Grove deal in Southern California.

*The deal has resulted in an immediate impact from Great Wolf traffic and new hotels.

*When the 25-year deal runs its course, Manteca will find itself with a conservative estimate of $8 million additional a year in unencumbered room tax receipts.

OK, so that’s good news for city residents in 2045.

But what about now?

Currently, when  property and sales taxes are included, Great Wolf is bringing around $1.5 million into the city’s coffers that can be spent on day-to-day needs. That amount increases in the 10th year.

More importantly, the city is working to use the combined drawing power of Great Wolf and year-round booking of the Big League Dreams sports complex for weekend tournament play to lure other family recreation visitors that can also help create a demand for hotel rooms.

The family entertainment zone  due to its highly targeted nature — is a slow work in progress,

And it will likely get more attractions first suited for local traffic and that of nearby neighboring cities —think a brew pub, themed restaurants and perhaps even go-cart race track and such — before it lands a bigger fish.

Those bigger fish are on the scale of anything from a surfing wave pool to a multi-story golf driving range.

Manteca hopes to draw on its location — already used to snap up Bass Pro, Great Wolf and Big League Dreams — and build on the synergy those three entities create to make Manteca a mecca for family recreation

As such, the goal is to draw from a larger region where people may take in multiple entertainment options.

While most will spend money just for the days, there will be those that will make it into a mini-vacation over several days including out-of-area visitors that could combine a stopover in Manteca to access Great Wolf et al along with a Yosemite trip.

It is the room tax such visitors pay that make them “super visitors” in terms of the city’s bottom line.

The potential for room tax may not elevate Manteca into the same stratosphere of visitors as Anaheim, but the effect is still the same in a proportional manner.

Take a look at the  city’s three biggest revenue sources on an annual basis pre-pandemic and pre-Great Wolf.

*Combined property tax was at $16.7 million in 2019.

*Sales tax was at $13 million in 2019.

*Room tax was at $1.7 million in 2019.

Then  compare them with post-pandemic and with Great Wolf in full play.

*Combined property tax is pegged at $24,1 million.

*Sale tax is pegged at $19.9 million in 2023.

*Room tax is pegged at $6.5 million.

A deliberate strategy by city leaders has allowed room tax — a tax that is virtually all paid by non-residents —  to nearly quadruple in four years.

Meanwhile, all property tax sources are up about 50 percent while sales tax has increased by roughly half as well.

Keep in mind the room tax strategy is just part of the puzzle and it won’t cover all of the existing and future need.

But it does reduce the local burden.

Also, the strategy is long-range.

The full impact of the Great Wolf deal won’t hit until 2045.

That said, keep in mind that current trends with the Measure J enhanced room tax on top means over a 20-year horizon that Great Wolf’s “net” room tax impact on the city’s general fund plus direct property and sales tax impacts with be $129 million.

It’s not something city leaders can point to all at one time to prove that Great Wolf was a smart deal.

But it is an essential foundation that the city pursued, developed, and secured for the future of Manteca’s current 90,000 residents and those that are yet to call themselves residents of the Family City.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com