More Taxes For Clevelanders To Fund Tourism?
July 22, 2007 – 3:59 pmIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The County Commissioners of Cleveland decided to try and beat a dead horse by proposing a quarter percent increase in sales tax to help boost tourism in the area. This would mean that every $100.00 purchase would result in .25 additional cents worth of tax revenue.
Looking at the big picture, it’s expected to generate $42 million extra dollars a year.
The revenues of this tax would then be used to finance a new convention center and a medical trade show facility. Commissioners claim that these new additions to Cleveland will help to make more jobs and stimulate the local economy, but to me it just sounds like another way to pull more cash out of an already struggling community.
A public statement says:
“New jobs and new revenue must be created to generate the excitement and enthusiasm needed to instill confidence once again in the Greater Cleveland area,” the document states. “Cleveland Medical Mart will build on Cleveland’s existing world-renowned health reputation and resources to attract new events and business opportunities to our region.”
Now my question is, why can’t the world class medical community or the management company that’s been chosen to lead it pay for the construction? Merchandise Mart Properties has already been selected to head the project for the medical facility and could also be granted rights for the convention center, should the proposed tax be approved.
The issue goes up for vote later this week, but voters can challenge the tax hike with a petition that has 45,000 signatures.
What are your thoughts on this proposed tax? Should tax payers have to foot the bill for a lucrative deal that Merchandise Mart Properties will be the benefactor of?
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