A theater group made appearances in two cities. The hotel charge before tax in the second city was $1000 lower than in the first. The tax in the first city was 5%, and the tax in the second city was 4.5% . The total hotel tax paid for the two cities was $450. How much was the hotel charge in each city before tax?

putting all that into algebra, if the bill in the 1st city was x, then

0.05x + 0.045(x-1000) = 450
x = 5210.53
...