County Bed-Tax Windfall Should Be Everybody’s Windfall

Editorial for the edition of Thursday-Friday, Dec. 4-5, 2014

There seems to be a consensus emerging on one thing: Otsego County’s government, which benefits to the tune of $1.4 million a year in bed-tax revenues, should share some of that with communities that host the bulk of the 500,000 people who visit here each summer.
Those communities are the city and town of Oneonta, which together generate 30 percent of bed-tax revenues, the Town of Hartwick (25 percent) and the Village of Cooperstown (23 percent).

The disagreement is over how and how much.

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By the time you read this, the question will be settled for the 2015 budget year. The county Board of Representatives was scheduled to vote Wednesday morning, Dec. 3, on its 2015 spending plan.

There may have been fireworks: County Rep. Ed Lentz, D-New Lisbon, planned to make a motion to allocate $150,000 in tourism-impact aid — it’s only 10.7 percent – to localities, and wasn’t sure how the vote would go. Check www.allotsego.com.

Regardless, everybody at the Monday, Dec. 1, hearing on the budget seemed to be saying some bed-tax revenue should be distributed.

As you might expect – this has been a longtime issue with him – Cooperstown Mayor Jeff Katz asked for funding ($50,000). “The money’s there, now,” said Katz, noting that, with Otsego Manor’s sale, the county board intended to reduce the tax levy by $170,000. The very few dollars that return to individual taxpayers make it no more than a symbolic gesture, while there’s real work to be done.

The mayor was quite pointed in noting that county Rep. Rick Hulse, R-Fly Creek, is the first rep in recent memory who has not supported impact aid for Cooperstown. Democrat John Kosmer did so, and so did Republican Jim Johnson.

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But both Hulse and county board Chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego, agreed there should be tourism-impact aid, but opposed a no-strings-attached giveaway. Their idea is to set aside an annual allocation – similar to the $35,000 in bed-tax money used for in-county events promotion – for tourism-related projects.

When deliberations on the 2016 budget begin late next summer, “people should come to the board with specific projects,” said Clark. The county reps can then assess the merits of each idea and support the ones they like best.

At the mention of $35,000, Katz called that “absurd.” And a few thousand dollars could accomplish very little. Plus, he said, the village’s commitment for the next 2-3 years is completing renovation of downtown sidewalk on Pioneer as well as Main; that’s where any money would be going.

Still, it’s encouraging to find that there is agreement on the concept: Taxpayers in Oneonta, Hartwick and Cooperstown, which bear the brunt of the costs of serving tourists, should get some help in doing so.

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Asking the municipalities to make specific requests is sensible, too. Tourism-impact money should be used for true tourism impacts, not just diverted to local tax relief. Preferably, it should be used for projects that will encourage tourism and, therefore, more bed-tax revenues. That turns an expenditure into an investment.

The quick-witted mayor countered, “You don’t get to say yes by saying no,” and he’s got a point. Still, the county board, like any public body, has a responsibility to ensure its money is well-spent.

More to the point is, how much? The $150,000 Lentz is proposing seems like enough to accomplish fairly major undertakings. But the amount can be argued and agreed upon – and, then, if advisable, adjusted.

The point is that the bed-tax windfall is everybody’s windfall, and should be used to the benefit of all.