Stormland TV did a story on the Haymarket Center that is being built in Lincoln, NE. One of the ways they are paying for it is through a 2% Occupation tax (which is really just an entertainment tax). Sioux Falls already has a 1% tax, but what if we to make it higher to not only subsidize the new EC but pay off bonds? I have often suggested a corporate entertainment tax also, maybe businesses that employee over 50 people in SF could be a part of the tax.
As a guy said at a recent Listening and Learning session, (54:00 MIN) “Businesses need to have a little skin in the game.” He is right, and what a better way to do it. They are constantly harping we need more entertainment in SF so they can attract workers, well guess what, here is your opportunity to pony up.
From the KELO piece:
“All through the campaign, we told people don’t expect the arena to make money. You expect an arena to break even. Where the community benefits is in the collection of the additional sales tax and the additional occupational taxes for the hotels and car rentals and things like that,” Campbell said.
Lincoln is raising those taxes because they have to do about $100 million worth of rail relocation, environmental cleanup, and infrastructure improvements that they didn’t have any other options to do (like a federal $$) in order to make the site work. The voters down there still supported it as they made the case for the best overall long term benefit.
We should’ve put the increased in the B&B tax towards paying down the EC, but instead our brilliant thinkers like Jim Entenman have decided to use that money to market our wonderful Arena & Convention Center experience.
That’s all we need: a good sales pitch and everything will work itself out, always does.
Speaking of: we will soon have a paid study saying that the naming rights of that top tier experience will fetch somewhere around $23.7 million so take that to the bank and put it in the “skin” account.
Settle down Beavis. As I understand it, this is teetering in the council’s hands. This can go a whole lotta ways. I say “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” The shit that has been thrown my way tells me this whole plan is still up in the air.
The mention of the 12,000 seat “Bob” was interesting.