Compromise on bed tax dollars close

Friday, 21 April 2006

By TOM JACKSON
tomjackson@sanduskyregister.com

PERKINS TWP. - A compromise on how to spend millions of dollars of bed tax money in future years allocates $1.7 million for U.S. 250 improvements and allows the Sandusky-Erie County Visitors Convention Bureau to spend the rest to market the area to tourists.

During Thursday's meeting of the Bed Tax Oversight Committee, held as part of Thursday's Erie County commission's meeting, the visitors and convention bureau proposed allocating $1.4 million over a 20-year period for improvements on U.S. 250 slated for 2013.

The commissioners countered by asking for $1.7 million that would be collected over 10 years.

The visitors convention bureau will try to effectively reduce that amount to $1.4 million by persuading private property owners to fund a $300,000 program to provide sidewalks along a portion of U.S. 250 rather than using taxpayer dollars.

The $1.4 million backed by the bureau would pay for $720,000 of landscaping and a gateway sign to welcome visitors and $580,000 for decorative signal poles at 15 intersections and related improvements.

Commissioners said they'll have their counterproposal for bed tax funds ready for their next meeting on Thursday.

Erie County collects a 2 percent bed tax on about 5,880 hotel and motel rooms, including about 1,100 waterpark rooms. It brought in about $1.7 million last year. About half goes to the visitors convention bureau.

Thursday's discussion was about what to do with the other half. It's being used to pay off the remaining $2.35 million debt of a $4.3 million debt the county incurred for U.S. 250's expansion, but that debt will be paid off soon.

Local tourism industry figures told the commisioners the Sandusky area has great potential to become a tourist mecca but the area needs marketing muscle.

Derrek Kinzel, general manager of Great Wolf Lodge, told commissioners the Wisconsin Dells spends $8.3 million a year on tourism promotion, while Erie County's tourism bureau operates on a budget of about $830,000 a year.

"Marketing is what this is all about," said John Hildebrandt, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. "We're in a fight. Tourism is an extremely competitive business."

Money from bed tax is supposed to be used for tourism promotion. Work on U.S. 250 has been justified on the grounds that it's a corridor for tourism.

An official from the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association, a trade group which represents hotels, said his group objects to spending any bed tax money on capital improvements rather than tourism promotion.

The group is "worried about the precedent this would set," said Matt MacLaren, director of public affairs for the group, although he said his group would go along with the wishes of local hotel figures.

Commissioners noted widening U.S. 250 helped tourism and development in Erie County.

The U.S. 250 Corridor Project will cost about $14 million.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has pledged $5 million, while the local Metropolitan Planning Organization will contribute $2 million. The $1.7 million pledged from the bed tax means the county will seek the other $5.3 million from a Transportation Review Advisory Committee grant, said Steve Poggiali, a planner with the Erie Regional Planning shepherding the grant application. TRAC funds are not expected to become available until 2013.

Plans for improvements on U.S. 250 in Perkins Township and Sandusky, including intersection improvements and 4.57 miles of sidewalks.

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