St. Peters has a new source of revenue for parks and recreation following voters' approval Tuesday of a tax on hotel rooms.

Proposition 1 calls for a 2 percent tax on charges for all sleeping rooms paid by transient guests in hotels and motels in the city. The tax will be levied on the gross receipts of hotels and motels, which have the option of passing the cost to their customers.

The tax passed by a vote of 2,162 (55.2 percent) to 1,751, according to unofficial election returns.

"It truly means a lot, especially in this economy," Mayor Len Pagano said Wednesday. "We're trying to seek funds other than from the residents. (The tax) is from tourists for events we hold."

Pagano previously said the city could expect to collect $150,000 to $200,000 per year from the hotel tax. City Administrator William Charnisky had said that money would be applied to the city's general fund, then used to supplement the Parks and Recreation Department's budget.

Pagano on Wednesday reaffirmed how the revenue would be spent. He said the money could, for example, be used to pay for security at St. Peters Rec-Plex events and to help maintain the city's 21 miles of trails.

"There's a lot of things we can do now," Pagano said. "We can plant trees (at 370 Lakeside Park). We need more shelter and restrooms (at 370 Lakeside Park). These are things that are needed now, and we're able to start working on this. We've got to have money."

This was the third time St. Peters officials asked voters for a tourism tax. Voters approved a 5 percent hotel/motel tax in April 2004, but the Missouri Legislature in 2005 passed a bill that prevented the city from collecting it. In 2010, the city again asked voters for a 5 percent tourism tax, but 55.7 percent of voters rejected it.

"I thank the people of our city for trusting us with that money and want to ensure them it will be invested in our community in a wise manner and for the best interest of our residents," Alderman Tommy Roberts, Ward 3, said Wednesday.

Roberts said once the election results are certified, the city would send a letter informing hotels and motels that the city would begin collecting the tax.

"When it does come in we want to start making investments in Lakeside 370 Park," Roberts said.

St. Peters joins St. Charles and O'Fallon as cities in St. Charles County that collect tourism taxes. St. Charles has a 1 percent tourism tax and O'Fallon a 5 percent transient/guest tax. In addition, the county collects a 5 percent tourism tax on hotels and motels.

The total of 3,913 votes cast in St. Peters represent a 10.4 percent voter turnout, slightly better than the countywide turnout of 9.46 percent for Tuesday's presidential primaries in Missouri.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum won handily statewide as well as in St. Charles County in the nonbinding Republican primary, from which no delegates to the GOP national convention will be awarded. In St. Charles County, Santorum led nine other candidates on the ballot with 11,161 votes (56.3 percent), followed by Mitt Romney with 5,042 votes (25.4 percent) and Ron Paul with 2,516 votes (12.7 percent). Newt Gingrich, who is thought to be Romney's biggest competitor for the Republican nomination, wasn't on the ballot in Missouri.

Santorum may have bolstered his standing with county residents by being the only GOP candidate to campaign in Missouri prior to the primary. His rally at St. Charles Community College Jan. 30 drew more than 300 people, and he had his victory party Tuesday night at the St. Charles Convention Center.

President Barack Obama won the Democratic primary. In St. Charles County, Obama received 2,938 votes (87.8 percent), while 226 people (6.76 percent) voted "uncommitted" — 45 votes more than the combined total received by three other candidates.