Fayette commissioners to act on hotel tax
The Fayette County commissioners took the first step Tuesday toward adopting a hotel occupancy tax that is expected to generate $750,000 annually for the county. The vote to place a motion on Thursday’s agenda to consider adopting the 3 percent tax resolution pursuant to Act 142 and to continue addressing the memorandum of understanding with the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau was approved 2-1, with Commissioner Vincent Zapotosky and Vincent A. Vicites voting in favor of it and Angela M. Zimmerlink voting against it. The memorandum will outline how the money generated from the tax would be allocated.
Also included in the motion is a provision that the date for implementation of the tax will be set at the March meeting. Zapotosky estimated the implementation date would be about 90 to 120 days after the March 27 meeting.
Zimmerlink, who previously spoke out against adopting the tax, said she was voting against the action because she believes something should be approved outlining how the money will be spent before the tax is implemented. Zimmerlink said she would have preferred to table the action a month so that everything – namely the ordinance, date of implementation and memorandum of understanding – could be approved at the same time.
In making the motion, Zapotosky said the commissioners would be able to address all the particulars prior to the March 27 meeting, when the date for implementation would be set.
“This is the first step,” Zapotosky said.
Vicites said there were very good suggestions at an informational meeting held Jan. 31 in which numerous tourism entities came together to discuss the proposal. He said only two other counties in the state don’t have such a tax and estimated that 99 percent of the people who would pay it live outside Fayette County.
“It makes sense to do this and it helps our county,” Vicites said.
Annie Urban, executive director of the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau (LHVB), said in response to questions from Zimmerlink that the ordinance must be advertised seven days before adoption and the memorandum of understanding would be attached to the ordinance. She said the process started with discussion at the meeting. She added that the effective date is up to the commissioners, and the tax would be collected by the treasurer’s office. Urban estimated the tax would generate about $750,000 annually for the county.
Urban said preliminary plans are to give 50 percent to the LHVB, allocate 25 percent to Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus, to set up a hospitality/restaurant institutional management program for five years and to distribute 25 percent for a grant program to help nonprofit tourism businesses.
Zapotosky said although Somerset and Westmoreland counties, which also are served by the LHVB, allow for-profit businesses to have grants, he is not in favor of doing that in Fayette County.
Zimmerlink, who did not attend the informational meeting, said she didn’t agree with approving the resolution and memorandums at different times.
Zapotosky said a five-member advisory panel would be selected that could review grant recipients.
“I think a delay would delay something good. We will still adopt the memorandum of understanding in March and give final approval for the resolution,” Zapotosky said.
Currently, the county pays $20,000 annually to the LHVB for tourism promotion. Adopting the ordinance would allow the county to be exempt from paying the annual allocation.
The issue first arose during last year’s commissioner election race, when Muriel Nuttall, a spokeswoman for the Fayette County Tourism Alliance, advocated implementation of the tax. Nuttall also is executive director of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce.
Legislation in late 2000 authorized the 45 Pennsylvania counties that did not levy a tax on hotel rooms to do so up to 3 percent of the room rate, and since that time the only counties that do not have the tax are Fayette, Fulton and Perry. When the issue initially arose for discussion in Fayette County in 2001 after the legislation was enacted, Vicites said at the time he was against it.
Nuttall previously said neighboring counties served by the LHVB have implemented the tax and have been able to not only stop paying an annual contribution to the tourism bureau, but also have been able to distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars generated by the tax for tourism-related purposes within the counties. Nuttall said the county collects the tax and gets to keep 2 percent of whatever is collected, with the remaining 98 percent going to the county tourism agency.
Nuttall said although the general consensus in Fayette County seems to be that fewer people will stay here if the tax is implemented, that has not been the case in Somerset and Westmoreland counties.
“In Somerset and Westmoreland counties, overnight stays have increased every year since they implemented the tax,” Nuttall said.
During Tuesday’s agenda meeting, Trey Matheu of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in Farmington said the resort is not in favor of any new tax in the private industry, but could support the proposal if the money is spent as discussed.
Dr. Emmanuel Osagie, chancellor at Penn State Fayette, spoke out in favor of implementing the hospitality/restaurant institutional management program at Penn State Fayette. He said as the only four-year university in the county, Penn State Fayette is committed to the economic development of the community. The said the program at the main campus is recognized as one of the top five in the country.
Osagie said he has spoken to two business owners who said they have been struggling to get people to take management positions.
“We could put a world renowned program in our back yard in Fayette,” Osagie said.
Zapotosky said implementing such a program is a “cutting-edge approach” and he is excited about it.
“I am a strong supporter of this,” Zapotosky said.