From the Indianapolis Star:
With 14 golf courses, dozens of attractions, a winery and a microbrewery, there are plenty of ways folks can have fun in Johnson County.
However, few visitors know about them. In the nine-county metropolitan area, only Johnson County is without a convention and visitors bureau.
Council members Loren Snyder and Anita Knowles hope to change that. They say they will introduce a measure to adopt a 5 percent tax on hotel guests to fund tourism efforts when the council meets at 6 p.m. Monday.
“It’s something our county needs to move forward,” Snyder said. “This is one way I think we can truly start making a difference and start bringing in economic development dollars.”
Indiana allows counties to collect the so-called innkeeper’s tax of up to 5 percent. The money must be spent to promote local tourism through brochures, websites and other marketing efforts.
“We’re missing out because everybody else around us markets their county,” Knowles said.
Amy Kelsay, of Kelsay Farms in Whiteland, said county businesses could benefit from a coordinated marketing effort.
“In terms of agritourism, it would be a great benefit to our industry to bring in potential customers and cross promote,” Kelsay said. “Right now, we’re all on our own.”
Council member Jim Eckart said he’s not convinced the tax is a good idea. He questions findings of a Ball State University study that for every $1 spent on tourism in Indiana, a county reaps about $15 in additional tax revenue.
“It seems like taxation on people who have no representation,” said Eckart, noting that runs counter to his idea of how government ought to work. “I fear we are going to subsidize marketing of small businesses at the expense of people who are never going to benefit.”
However, Eckart said he can see good things that could come from the tax and stressed he’s yet to make up his mind on how he’ll vote.
Eckart said he’d probably be more open to considering a tax of under 5 percent or to asking lawmakers to allow a portion of Johnson County’s hotel tax revenue to be spent on things besides tourism.
Johnson County officials considered the innkeeper’s tax four years ago. The plan failed when council members disagreed over whether some of the money should be spent on parks — that would have required a special law approved by state lawmakers and the governor.
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Hendricks County has an eight percent innkeeper’s tax. Marion County’s tax is 10 percent.
Bartholomew, Boone, Hamilton, Madison and Shelby counties have a 5 percent tax. Hancock County’s tax is 4 percent.
“Johnson County needs one entity to market the whole county as a great place to live, work and visit,” Greater Greenwood Chamber of Commerce Director Christain Maslowski said in an email.
“If we had the professional leadership in place to activate our message, we know we can attract more outside dollars into our local community.”
See the full article here:
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/johnson-county/2013/11/30/proposed-hotel-tax-could-help-johnson-county-businesses-supporters-say/3785093/
