But first some caveats
The Atlantic City Council has been asked for the fourth time to consider a hotel motel tax and for the fourth time I think it’s a good idea in theory, it’s the details that are problematic.
For the record, I have always supported a hotel/motel tax in Atlantic which, by state law, requires that 50 percent be used for “recreation, convention, cultural or entertainment facilities, including, but not limited to, memorial buildings, halls and monuments, civic centers, convention buildings, auditoriums, coliseums, and parking areas or facilities located at those recreation, convention, cultural or entertainment facilities.”
In other words all those things that are difficult to find funding for and are usually the first to come under the budget cutting knife.
The new tax would add up to 7 percent on hotel and motel rooms and is expected to raise between $75,000 and $80,000 a year. Supporters say they will use the money to create the Atlantic Convention and Visitors Bureau, and entity run by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, that would have a part-time employee working on promoting conferences, festivals and other events. The remaining 25 percent would go to the Parks and Recreation department for general use.
It’s the first part I have a problem with. To be clear, I have NO problem with the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce or the job they are doing. I think they do a fantastic job putting on nearly every community event you can think of, often without enough money or volunteers. However, I do not like the idea of dedicating a public tax to a private entity.
The problems with that idea are many, not the least of which is oversight. As a private entity the chamber is under no obligation to open its books to the public. The public will have no way of knowing how its money is being used. Residents will have no input on budgets or management.
In effect the city would be turning over a good chunk of its money with little more than a promise to spend it wisely. Unfortunately that’s not enough.
The best answer is to make the Atlantic Convention and Visitors Bureau a city entity run by city employees. That way the information remains public and the city has control over how its money is spent and the Bureau is run. The problem is it’s an idea the city probably doesn’t want and the council is unlikely to support.
A previous 2 percent hotel tax proposal died in 2003 when city officials balked at that very proposal. City employees come with salaries, benefits and other costs. And while this position would come with a built in funding source, it is still unlikely to sway a council that has recently been forced to reduce city positions.
So could there be a compromise? Possibly. After all public money is given to private entities all the time, but it is at the discretion of a local governing board. Not mandated by a dedicated tax. So perhaps the ACVB could be formed as a quasi-public board, that included at least an equal number of elected or appointed city officials and chamber members, and which all financial records would be available for public inspection.
The director of the agency would have to be a Chamber employee, funded with the new tax money. The Chamber would have the right to hire, or fire, whoever they wanted, while the city would ultimately have the option of funding or not funding, the group. Both sides would have to work together.
In the end I think it’s an idea worth pursuing. Too many other communities already have the tax, including Harlan, Walnut and Avoca. New hotels are being built or have recently been built in two of those communities, the tax hasn’t seemed to hurt business there, which is the usual argument put forward.
The city of Atlantic needs to be competitive with its neighbors and this is a tool that other cities have already taken up. They now have an advantage we don’t.
The council should allow a vote on the tax, but not without guaranteeing its citizens adequate protection.
