Mountains Tourist tax draws criticism

Paid parking in town centres, a visitation tax for day trippers and a 35 percent increase in the emergency services annual charge to rate payers are revenue-rasing measures being considered by council to help fill an emergency black hole in its budget fore cast.

Investment in car detection sensors in times parking zones and the introduction voluntary fee for over night visitors are other ideas council is looking into.

After about 90 minutes of debate last Tuesday Councillors unanimously opted to defer investigating the matters, keep all options on the table until they receive a detailed briefing on the viability of introducing the unprecedented fees and charges.

A staff report revealed council needs to find an extra $1.5million per year from the 2010/11 financial year in order to implement its capital works program because the cost of renewal and maintenance of its buildings and services is rising faster than its income.

Council’s financial situation is also under pressure due to an estimated $1million per year operational cost for the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre (which is due to open in 2011) and $7million loss in the value of its own investments over the last two financial years.

The 2009/10 Management Report recommended implementing a special rate variation above the current rate-pegging limit of 3.6 percent as the solution to fill the emergency budget black hole.

But after preliminary investigations, Councillors sought greater consideration of all available options to avoid increasing rates.

Other options include an external review of all council activities to identify possible savings and reforming council’s vehicle fleet arrangements.

Councillors Terri Hamilton and Fiona Creed tried to dump the tourism tax proposals, but only received the backing of Mark Greenhill and Daniel Myles.

But in opposing a tourism tax or levy, Clr Myles said he would support $2 entry fee for non-Blue Mountains residents at Echo Point.

Clr Hamilton said the idea of a tourism tax is “very short-sighted” and any extra charge for tourists travelling by coach would simply repel bus tour companies.

Clr Alison McLaren criticised the “messy” structure of council’s business paper report and said she opposed a compulsory tourist tax, but “didn’t have an issue” with exploring a voluntary tourism tax or donation system.

Clr Brendan Luchetti was most in favour of further exploring the tourist taxes, claiming “they were there (included) based on a previous councillor’s decision that they needed to happen.

Mayor Adam Searle was absent from the council meeting and could not vote on the matter.

A decision on all proposals is likely to occur at the council meeting on December the 15 ^th .

PROPOSAL UNDER FIRE

Members of the region’s business and tourism community wasted no time in criticising the prospect of a council-introduced tourism tax and paid parking spike, fearing permanent damage to the local economy.

Blue Mountains Tourism Limited president Randall Walker immediately slammed both ideas, saying he was not even consulted by council prior to last Tuesday’s council meeting and vote on the matter.

“Tourism operators are 100 percent opposed to any form of tourist tax,” Mr Walker said.

“Had we been consulted we would have advised against the proposals.”

“The tourism industry understands councils are under pressure to grow revenue in order to manage service delivery and maintenance infrastructure, but they should never consider any form of tourism tax or visitor Levy that will run the risk of reducing demand or visitation.”

General Manager of Fivex Commercial Property which owns the Three Sisters Pavilion shopping centre at Echo Point, told the Gazette council’s tourism tax proposals are “unbelievably contradictory to common sense. The consequences of a policy of this nature, if the council was ever foolish enough to implement it, would really be quite catastrophic for the local economy. People will lose jobs if the council passes this proposal”.

Katoomba Chamber of Commerce and Community (KCCC) president Robert Stock said it was not productive to even debate the possibility of introducing a tourist tax or expanding pay and display parking-in his opinion those suggestions should have been put to bed straight away.

“It would make more sense rather than increasing revenue for itself, the council should be looking to cut expenditure,” Mr Stock said. He added it was disappointing that Clr Daniel Myles told a metropolitan Sydney newspaper that he would support tourists at Echo Point paying a $2 entrance fee.“It was a counterproductive of Clr Daniel Myles to initiate that discussion.”

On the issue of expenditure, KCCC members expressed particular alarm at the financial burden council will face when its Cultural Centre opens in Katoomba in late 2011 and the fact that it won’t contain a visitor information centre or a conference venue.

Blue Mountains Gazett, 18 November, 2009

By: Shane Desiatnik