Argus Leader online poll results at 9 PM
While, personally I am not opposed to a room tax increase, I am suspicious of the need. Will this money be used wisely? Or will it be thrown in another marketing burn barrel this city constantly cooks up? Maybe the solution isn’t giving the Convention Center more money, maybe the solution is changing CC management?
But let’s just read the Pro & Con arguments, they are both revealing. First the Pro tax increase;
When guests to our city stay in our hotels, they also eat in our restaurants, buy gasoline, make purchases at our great retail outlets, visit attractions and use many other services available here, all of which generates significant sales tax revenue.
Which is true, BUT, don’t you think most visitors are on a budget? And if they are spending an extra $2 a night on a room that is $2 less they are spending elsewhere in our city? Aren’t we just redirecting more subsidy to the Convention Center instead of the general fund, CIP fund and local business profits?
You might be surprised to know the Sioux Falls Arena and Convention Center have more than 400 events a year – more than Fargo and Sioux City, Iowa, combined.
So if the CC is so successful, as you claim, then why does it need a bigger subsidy? And why isn’t it making money? Maybe the answer is in the Con argument;
If the bed tax is approved, the recipient of the new tax dollars – projected at more than $1.2 million – is the Sioux Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau, an arm of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.
The CVB already receives $575,000 from a separate tax and an additional $500,000 from the city. The city then would keep the $500,000, if the tax is approved, instead of passing that money on to the CVB.
The CVB is not a government office. The employees aren’t city workers. They are chamber of commerce employees.
I think many taxpayers will be squeamish about using the coercive power of government to collect a new $1.2 million in taxes to support a private organization.
But these are the kinda games people continue to play in Sioux Falls, take from the little guy to benefit the big guy. If hotels want more money to market themselves, I suggest they take the bull by the horns and raise their room fees to help market themselves instead of depending on a government mandated increase, because as Nelson points out;
Sioux Falls already has programs that are suffering and projects that aren’t getting built. This past Thursday, the city was, again, discharging sewage into the Big Sioux River. We need tax dollars to repair our outdated infrastructure. If the council truly is willing to pass this $1.2 million tax, why not use the revenue for needed repairs now instead of rolling the dice with the CVB in hopes of more sales tax in the future?
Before we start dreaming about better conventions and event centers, lets face the facts, unemployment is high and the economy is in the shitter. Maybe that is why people are not visiting our city as much? This isn’t rocket science folks, just basic economics.
l3wis 
