Gatlinburg tax is amusing

I get entertained any time a good local political fight gets going. When you don’t actually have a dog in the fight, sitting back and watching rates much higher than any reality TV show, because you generally know most of the characters involved. However to put on my spin, I’ll de-spin some of the debate. Gatlinburg commissioners have been hammered pretty hard by some local business owners as well as some of the local media they support with ads. We’ll clear some of the smoke here first. A sarcastic snipe that the coin operated machines in arcades and etc. has been spared was bandied around a bit. That’s a bit harsh as coin machines weren’t ever on the table because only the State of Tennessee can tax those machines, which they do. The city does not have that power as an option and probably never will as the state tends to hold onto revenue streams when it finds them. Secondly, several have said that the new tax may be changed in the future to be a general fund rather than be designated to a split between capital improvements and advertising for the city. We all know politicians can play games with numbers, however the legislative intent is pretty clear. Tennessee Private Acts, Chapter 102 of 2002 makes it clear that this new tax is intended to be an addition to current funding levels and not a replacement so that funds can be diverted elsewhere in the budget. It’s a possibility of course, but if this tax goes into place its safe to assume that amusement operators will watch carefully to see that the money is used as a supplement to those funds. Of course my favorite statement is that the tax will outprice attractions and visitor levels will drop further; that it will make Gatlinburg uncompetitive with her sister cities and other vacation spots. Compare the average admission price for a show or ride in Gatlinburg to the Vale slopes or Orlando and a 10% tax, much less a 2% wouldn’t bring local levels close to those areas rates without tax. Staying local, a concert ticket has a double-digit tax in Knoxville and staying overnight is 17.25% in taxes on the hotel room, compared to 12.5% in Gatlinburg. True, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville don’t have this tax, but they generally follow Gatlinburg’s lead on tax ideas anyway. Hotel and restaurant privilege taxes are cases in point. Putting on the horns to play devil’s advocate, some other myths need facts introduced. Several members of the city commission are recently re-elected. Some of those spoke in their campaigns about taxes. This tax is worded to be an add-on that is paid directly by the consumer, however the way the attractions industry works leads to rounded ticket prices. Some businesses will be forced to lower current ticket prices to let the tax keep the total price the same. They will in effect eat the cost of the tax indirectly. Its just simple American sense that a guy will buy a ticket at $9.95 a lot easier than one at $10.00. So despite the eloquent legalese, some local businesses are getting a new tax in a tough economic period. Some will raise the price and cross fingers the attendance numbers don’t drop. Maybe the city commissioners have taken a long look ahead and realized that a lot of the drop in traffic from tourists is in jeopardy due to the traffic congestion of getting to the the city on the parkway and the new availability of beer in Pigeon Forge restaurants. It’s going to be a lot easier for the visitors from neighboring counties who have gone up the spur in the past to party, to give up due to the number of tail lights in front of them and pull in to a Pigeon Forge restaurant. Gatlinburg needs to adapt and maybe at that October meeting they will get some new funding to adapt with, maybe they won’t. It should be an amusing council meeting either way.