HELEN — The City of Helen celebrated a major milestone at Tuesday’s City Commission meeting.

City Manager Jerry Elkins proudly reported that the city that relies heavily on its tourism industry topped the $1 million mark in hotel/motel collections for the first time ever.

“Our fiscal year ends June 30 and at the end of that period for the first time in the history of Helen, we collected over $1 million worth of hotel/motel tax,” Elkins said. “The exact amount was like $1,011,000 at this point. There are a couple that are uncollected at this time, so that’s expected to go up just a little bit.”

That announcement was even more impressive considering the Alpine city’s lone hotel was closed most of the year due to a 2014 fire. The hotel had to be rebuilt.

Elkins said the hotel/motel tax allows the city to promote tourism through the Alpine Helen White County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“The more tourism we get the more hotel/motel tax we collect and the better off our businesses are,” he said. “Everything at this time is thriving, and it’s real good times for the City of Helen.”

They city’s financial report, which won’t be complete until August, showed revenue increased by about $130,000 in FY 2015-16 over the previous year while expenses increased by about $73,745.

Elkins also reported that the new Holiday Inn should be open in the next 30 days and a new Marriott can begin dirt work soon.

“The city is in great financial shape,” he concluded.