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Site Administrator's note: Because of copyright laws, we cannot reproduce entire articles on these pages. Under the circumstances, the best we can do is quote or paraphrase a small portion and provide a link to the complete article. |
British Hospitality Association
"The British Hospitality Association remains strongly opposed to the introduction of any tourist or 'bed' tax which has been suggested as an additional source of local authority revenue." (January 22, 2004)
Hotel bills: America's hidden tax tab
"There is something almost medieval about the concept; like the troll who lived under a bridge and jumped out to demand payment from the unsuspecting traveler.
"But it's no updated version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. There is only one goat in this story, and it's the traveler." (September 7, 1996; originally appeared in the Detroit News)
"Frank Klees, the new provincial tourism minister, is saying no to Ottawa's hotel industry's request for a room tax. Good for him." (December 16, 2002; originally appeared in the Ottawa Citizen)
Key Issues in Travel & Tourism Development
"For policymakers, taxing Travel & Tourism is attractive because the bulk of the tax burden is perceived to fall on the shoulders of non-constituents. The short-term injection of revenues paid by outsiders is politically seductive. The long-range implications can be sobering." (World Travel & Tourism Tax Policy Center)
Case Number 1--A new Michigan county-level accommodations tax
"The first issue involves the proposed expansion of a county-level accommodations tax in Michigan. This issue was selected because it centered around a question often asked by municipal policymakers: Do tourists pay their fair share of taxes?" (World Travel & Tourism Taxation Policy Taskforce)
"The danger of relying on travelers to sustain tourism, of course, is that the numbers do fluctuate, and the condition of the overall economy affects tourism perhaps more than other industries because it involves discretionary spending. And a state could end up in a 'Catch-22' situation: less money to spend on promotions, fewer travelers are lured to vacation sites, resulting in less money to spend on promotions." (Kathy Cobb, April 1997, BeachBrowser.com)
Tourist bait: are voters to blame for tourism ranking?
"Here we go again. Tourism in Colorado is allegedly down, and voters are being informed that they are at least partly to blame. The problem is that they're unwilling to use public funds to promote private businesses, and said so loud and clear in a 1993 vote." (Editorial, June 17, 2001, Rocky Mountain News)
The business of luring business
"Unsatisfying as it may be to the many proponents of economic development programs, government can best promote economic growth and prosperity by sticking to the basics: protecting private property rights, enforcing the law, providing basic services, and keeping taxes and regulations to a minimum. It should then do one final thing: Get out of the way and let the economy work." (December 26, 2004; Holland [MI] Sentinel) [note: this article deals mainly with federal subsidies for economic development projects -- the nugget of gold was the final paragraph, quoted above.]
(more to come soon)
(in no particular order)
TRIM -- Lower Taxes Through Less Government
Citizens Against Government Waste
Tax Foundation -- Educating Taxpayers Since 1937
Citizens for an Alternative Tax System
The Death Tax is killing family business
National Retail Sales Tax Alliance
March 8, 2005: Henrico County, VA
Massive bond issue that included a 4% tax on restaurant meals (prepared foods)
| "Henrico voters overwhelmingly approved the county's $349.3 million bond referendum, agreeing to fund a variety of capital projects and their operating costs for Schools, Libraries, Recreation and Parks, Fire and Public Works. Voters narrowly defeated a meals tax that would have helped pay for the projects." |
City Council Proposes Advertising & Promotion Tax for Second Time; Was Defeated Last Year
| "Benton City Council cleared the first hurdle in an effort to establish a city Advertising & Promotion Commission in the city. Following a public hearing that drew more than 100 people, the council vote was 7-3 on the first reading of an ordinance setting up the commission with its corresponding 3 percent 'hamburger tax' for funding." (search for "hamburger tax" in Advanced Search for all articles on the subject) |
March 25, 2005: Little Rock, AR
| LR parks panel pitches 1%
sales-tax jump; Backers say higher hotel and restaurant levy needed to upgrade facilities |
| "By a 7-0 vote, the Little
Rock Parks and Recreation Commission recommended placing
a third penny on the advertising and promotion tax to
help fund the city's park system. Four members of the
11-member commission were absent from the meeting. "The proposal, which would raise sales taxes on food and lodging in the city from 9.5 percent to 10.5 percent, would have to be approved by the Little Rock Board of Directors and possibly the Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission. Currently, 6 percent of the food and lodging sales taxes goes to the state. Another 2 percent goes to the Advertising and Promotion Commission, 1 percent to Pulaski County and another half-percent to the city. "The tax would raise $4 million a year for the parks department, which is struggling with a shortage of employees and resources." |
New Chicago Budget Gives City Some
of the Nation's Highest Tax Rates
"As of January 1, Chicagoans and those who do business in the city began paying some of the highest taxes and fees in the nation on items ranging from natural gas to restaurant meals. Another round of tax hikes, on retail sales and hotel lodging, is scheduled to take effect July 1." (January 1, 2005, Budget & Tax News)
Chicago Stadiums Fail to Deliver Promised Benefits
"Chicago has two taxpayer-subsidized sports stadiums, neither of which appears to be living up to the promises made by supporters of taxpayer funding."
"The bond payments for both stadiums are funded by a 2 percent hotel tax in Chicago, which generates about $23 million a year." (February 1, 2005, Budget & Tax News)
"Winston Churchill once remarked: 'For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket trying to lift himself up by the handle.'
"In California, Gov. Gray Davis and Democratic legislators have formed a bucket brigade that will fail to create prosperity, just as Gov. Pete Wilson failed with the same policies in the early 1990s." (July 1, 2003, Intellectual Ammunition)
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