Tourism for the people deserves public debate
It was a great idea at
the time. Use a "bed tax" to generate revenue to develop tourism. The
Navy was downsizing and tourism seemed our best bet for a prosperous
economic future.
Now, 20 years later, some
in our community are starting to question whether the idea is still a
good one and suggest that it's time to re-evaluate the plan.
It was called the Local
Option Tourist Development Act, three cents added onto room charges sent
directly to the Monroe County Tourist Development Council to be used
exclusively for the promotion and development of tourism. And by a
successful ballot referendum, we all agreed to it. Eventually, another
cent was added that we also call "bed tax", but it's used for land
acquisition and the county's general revenue fund, so it's not exactly
the same thing.
At a recent public forum
to discuss tourism and the TDC, a cursory look around the room gave an
accurate view of the problem today. On one side of the room, in favor of
the TDC, sat Harold Wheeler, marketing director for the TDC, Virginia
Panico of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, businessman Jon Allen,
attorney and Key West Chamber Chair Michael Browning and City
Commissioner Ed Scales, general council for Historic Tours of America.
On the other side,
calling for a scaling back of the TDC, sat the majority of the Last
Stand membership, Elliot Baron, Rosalind Brackenbury, and a lone tourist
direct from New Jersey. Based on this image, we seem no longer to be a
community that agrees on the benefits of the TDC. And these public
discussions are getting louder.
And that's a good thing.
Public debate is a
necessary part of the successful development of our community's future.
Without an open and inclusive dialogue with respect and room for all
points of view, solutions tend to fall short of meeting the needs of the
citizens. Discussing the issues is not problematic, not discussing them
causes trouble.
In the year 2000, a
survey was conducted throughout Monroe County that seems to have gone
unnoticed by the TDC. Eighty percent of those who responded said they
either wanted less tourism or the same amount as the previous year.
Given that tourism has consistently grown since (except for a split
second after 9/11), it appears the TDC did not listen to the input of
the community.
This is not a good policy
for the TDC and brings into question whether its role, as was originally
designed to be an organization that would benefit everyone in our
community, hasn't been altered and currently tends to benefit just a
lucky few.
For a better
understanding of how much is controlled by the TDC, a quick comparison
may be helpful. In 2003, a panel of nine appointed TDC members whose
majority membership must derive their income from tourism, had $21
million at their disposal to spend almost exclusively on promoting
tourism. During the same year, the city of Key West, with oversight by
seven elected officials, a city manager, numerous agency heads,
department heads, etc., had an operating budget of $32 million.
This brings up the next
question: At what point will the TDC agree that tourism has been
developed enough? Especially given the fact that the majority of their
membership continues to benefit from ever-increasing amounts of it?
The discussion around
quality of life has been a hot topic among many of our community leaders
these days. We hear about the impact cruise ships have on the quality of
life in Old Town the most. In the spirit of fair play, let's begin to
consider impacts from all forms of tourism. When we discuss
"disembarkation fees," shouldn't we also be talking about similar
considerations from the rest of the tourism industry?
Of course, the owners of
"brick and mortar" establishments are quick to point out that they
already pay "impact fees" in the forms of sales tax, commercial property
taxes, utility bills, etc. The question must be asked: Do these "taxes"
generate enough revenue to cover the impact on our quality of life from
the tourism industry?
If we discovered it did
not, would the TDC support reducing the "bed tax" and replacing it with
a "community impact tax" to help cover the cost the tourism industry is
having on our community?
Perhaps it's a far
stretch, but it's certainly worth continued debate. |
