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HIAWATHA — Hiawatha voters on Tuesday approved a 7 percent room tax on overnight hotel stays within city limits in a “proactive” move aimed at capturing future earnings.

Roughly 73.8 percent of voters in Tuesday’s municipal election were in favor of the ballot measure while 26.2 percent were opposed. A total of 1,117 votes were cast on the matter, which required a simple majority to pass.

Notably, Hiawatha currently has no hotels or motels within city limits, but the City Council in August voted to put the matter on this year’s ballot as a “proactive” move to ensure maximization of future earnings.

“You can only have an election every so often, so if we don’t pass a hotel/motel tax and we

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