Town revisits option taxes

Rutland Herald

By BRYANNA ALLEN STAFF WRITER

   ‍KILLINGTON — The town is working with ‍Killington and Pico resorts, along with the Chamber of Commerce, to reach an agreement on eliminating a portion of the local options tax. The parties involved discussed options at a meeting of the town’s Economic Development and Tourism Commission Monday.    The resort has asked the town of ‍Killington to consider eliminating the sales and use portion of the tax, on which the resort pays the largest annual portion because of the sales of lift tickets. The other portion of the tax — rooms, meals and alcohol — will remain.    The resort wants to use the money saved from the 1 percent tax to fund its year-round investments.    “We need to identify a way to grow tourism throughout the year,” said Town Manager Seth Webb. “I think this is a good start.”    ‍Killington and Pico recently developed a plan to invest $5 million dollars over the next five years on the construction of new attractions that will draw tourists to the town and resort throughout the year, not just in the winter. This money would fund projects such as ziplining, expanded mountain biking trails, adventure summer camps and other multi-season activities.    Town officials are supportive of these ideas, but there are still a few adjustments to be addressed.    The money from the options tax initially gets paid to the state. The town receives 60 percent of that tax money, about $450,000, after the state keeps a portion.    That $450,000 sum would then go to the resort, instead of the town, in order to help fund the investment plan.    To make up for that loss of yearly revenue, the town has collaborated on a plan of its own.    ‍Killington currently spends about $250,000 a year on marketing and event planning. The plan is to create a semi-independent party to manage the events and marketing.    An idea Webb brought to the table Monday afternoon consisted of a potential team called the Killing-ton Pico Area Association, the KPAA. Its function would be to grow tourism through marketing, special events and business development projects. It would be governed by an executive board of directors consisting of two elected officials from the resort, two by the Chamber of Commerce members and one by the select board.    The funding for the potential KPAA would come from sponsorships, donations and an annual membership contribution.    One resident, however, raised a concern about the proposal.    “I’m just worried about turning off one spigot of funding before turning another one on,” said ‍Kil‍‍lington resident Andrew Salamon.    The other $200,000 — from the $450,000 the town now receives from the options tax — would be made up by increasing the property tax by 2.5 cents.    That would result in a maximum added tax of $12 a year for the average ‍Killington resident who owned a home with a value ranging from $200,000 to $250,000.    “We think this is a plan that will help all parties involved without financially killing taxpayers,” Webb said.    Many at the meeting seemed to be in agreement about the proposed plan, since the resort and the town share a common goal: to support the local economy by increasing the amount of offered activities during the offseason of the resort.    “‍Killington is not the bad guy,” said Select-woman Patty McGrath. “We want to work together.” McGrath said she just wanted to see a more solid plan before taking further action.    The goal is to attract 45,000 additional visitors by the summer of 2019.    “There is not a lot of risk for those involved,” said Mike Solimano, the president and general manager of ‍Killington and Pico resorts. “The money would go toward the improvement of the resort and the town.” bryanna.allen    @ rutlandherald.com  


Comment: I'm sorry to say but this article might as well have been a puff piece press release. There were major concerns brought up by commissioners and audience members. The major issue being where is KPAA going to get the $250,000 from. Jim Haff stated that the Killington Chamber, which would be folded in to this new, well, chamber, operates on a $90,000 budget and can barely do anything. Some allusions were made that the resort would contribute somehow but nothing specific. Comparisons kept being made to the Stowe Area Association and Vail's organization. At least in the case of Stowe, the association gets a large portion of its funding from the central reservations operation of which it gets a percentage. It also charges $5,000 for a membership. I don't see either of these possibilities here.
I stated I would like to see some sort of business plan that would show the operational viability of such an organization and commissioner Bill Ackerman concurred.
Also commissioner Gerry Russell echoed my concerns about the possible financial instability of Powder Corp. due to its problems at Park City that could drain resources from the Killington Resort.
This proposal is no slam dunk. Think long and hard before supporting elimination of the 1% sales and use tax based upon anything this proposal states. Very weak arguments and half baked plans to replace the funding of KPAA. The town is facing a lot of fiscal pressures on the property tax rate. Eliminating a revenue source at this time may not be in the best interests of the town.
Vito