County Economic Development Director Kent Sulser said tourism-related tax dollars would be used, with $800,000 paid up front, followed by $200,000 per year for six more years. Centerville City officials are reportedly still working on their financial details, after which an agreement could be signed, he said. Watch for more details in Tuesday’s paper.
Restaurant bill strongly opposed
FARMINGTON — “It would decimate the tourism fund.”
That’s how County Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings characterized impact of HB380, which would remove a large portion of restaurant tax currently collected by Davis and all other counties.
Of the $4.2 million taken in by the county in tourism tax revenues, more than two-thirds is generated by restaurant sales, or more than $2.8 million.
The Utah Restaurant Association is behind the bill, as part of its ongoing attempt over the past three years to obtain tax funding for promotions.
The bill saw a lot of sea-saw action, Wednesday morning, by the House revenue and taxation committee, said County Commission Chair Bret Millburn.
Action included a substitute motion by Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, that would’ve awarded the URA 3.44 percent of tourism tax dollars for a couple of years.
That failed, as did another motion to repeal all restaurant taxes after bond commitments for Davis County and others were paid off, Millburn continued.
“That would be absolutely devastating to the things we are trying to accomplish here in Davis County,” he said. “Now we have a Conference Center, but we wouldn’t be able to operate it,” he said. That vote failed on a 7-7 tie.
More than $1.3 million of the restaurant fund is related to debt service to pay off construction and expansion of the Davis Conference Center, Rawlings said.
Another $1.5 million goes for operation of facilities, such as the Conference Center, Convention & Visitors Bureau, and more.
Finally, a motion for ongoing 3.44 percent URA funding was defeated on a tie vote.
“There is still some time left in this session, but we hope this is a dead issue, at least for this year,” Millburn said.
“We would possibly have to shut down the Conference Center, and the CVB would get no funds,” he said. “It would have a decimating impact.”
County commissioners implemented the tax in the 1990s, “set up long-range plans to use those taxes, took some heat” at the time, Rawlings continued.
“Now someone else says they want funds (URA), when it’s all scheduled for programs, for years, that the county uses to give good service to not only county residents but the tourism industry,” he said.
“Because we built the Conference Center with these funds, think about the number of restaurants that have been built because the Conference Center is there. The restaurant industry has benefited significantly because of the spending of this money,” Rawlings said.
A half dozen restaurants are within a stone’s throw, alone, of the Layton facility, with a score of others built nearby in the last few years, since the center opened.
“What we’re having a hard time understanding is all the things we’re expending the money on are benefiting restaurants,” Millburn said.
For example, it’s projected new restaurants will come to serve the needs of patrons attending the anticipated South Davis performing arts center, he said.
“We’ve doubled, tripled the number of people who come to visit the county,” said Commissioner Louenda Downs. That’s for conventions, as tourists to the island and elsewhere.
“We feel it’s been a great return on investment. It’s a very tiny tax,” she said.
“This would set a precedence for other trade groups,” said CVB CEO Barbara Riddle. “It’s a bad policy. It would be bad for every county.
“It (tourism tax) improves our quality of life because of the things we’ve been able to do (as a county),” Riddle said. “I am strongly, strongly opposed.”
tbusselberg@davisclipper.com
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