[StBernard] REMINDER! St. Bernard Hotel/Motel fee on Saturday's ballot

[Westley Annis]

>...after paying reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting

and >administering the Tax

Ah, there's the rub.  I would think the tax is simply added to the sales
tax, yes?  And then is added into the total bill.

What are the "reasonable and necessary costs and expenses" involved?  The
sheriff is the agent to collect sales taxes isn't he?  So I wonder how much
the reasonable and necessary costs and expenses are, and how much will be
sent to the Tourism dept?

I'm not necessarily against it but I wonder how much the yield for tourism
will be after the "expenses".

JY



	
	-----------------------------------------------------
	St. Bernard Parish officials encourage voters to support
	 hotel-motel tax
	
	Measure to support tourism only charged to those staying overnight
in hotel
	rooms, fishing lodges, bed and breakfasts or campgrounds
	
	 
	
	St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. and the Parish
Council are
	encouraging voters to support a proposition for a Hotel-Motel Tax
that will
	be on the ballot Saturday, October 4.
	
	 
	
	This fee only will be charged to guests who stay overnight in a
hotel-motel
	room, bed and breakfast, fishing lodge or campground. This is not a
tax or
	fee charged to residents of St. Bernard Parish. 
	
	 
	
	Since Hurricane Katrina, tourism efforts have been funded by a
one-time
	"tourism recovery grant" that funded the development of the
	www.visitStBernard.com <http://www.visitstbernard.com/>  website,
the
	production of commercials that aired on WWL-TV, print ads,
promotional
	brochures and participation in tradeshows and other efforts
	 marketing St.
	Bernard Parish as well as hosting the Oh Boy Oberto Redfish Cup,
which aired
	on ESPN2. 
	
	 
	
	These marketing and advertising campaigns brought visitors to St.
Bernard
	from around the country, generating sales tax dollars that in turn
has
	helped the local economy.
	
	 
	
	"Voting for this measure will fund more tourism activities and is
not a
	tax
	on local people," Taffaro said.
	
	 
	
	The fee cannot exceed 2% of the rental rate for the room. For
example, for a
	room with a daily rate of $70, the fee would equal $1.40. The law
requires
	the money collected from the fee to be used for tourism related
activities.
	
	  
	
	The full text of the proposition as it will appear on the ballot is
as
	follows:
	
	Parishwide Proposition
	
	 Summary:  2% tax upon the rent or fee charged for the occupancy of
hotel
	rooms, motel rooms, and overnight camping facilities within the
	 jurisdiction
	of the St. Bernard Parish Tourist Commission (said Tax to be in
addition to
	any other taxes thereon), with the proceeds of the Tax (after paying
	reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting and
administering
	the Tax) to be used for the purposes of attracting conventions and
tourists
	into the area of the jurisdiction of the Commission, including, but
not
	limited to, advertising, promotion and publication of information.
	
	 
	
	Shall the Parish of St. Bernard, State of Louisiana (the "Parish"),
	under
	the provisions of La. R.S. 33:4574.1, and other constitutional and
statutory
	authority, be authorized to levy and collect, a tax of two percent
(2%) (the
	"Tax"), upon the rent or fee charged for the occupancy of hotel
	rooms, motel
	rooms, and overnight camping facilities within the jurisdiction of
the St.
	Bernard Parish Tourist Commission (said Tax to be in addition to any
other
	taxes
	 thereon) (an estimated $50,000 reasonably expected at this time to
be
	collected from the levy of the Tax for an entire year), with the
proceeds of
	the Tax (after paying reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of
	collecting and administering the Tax) to be used for the purposes of
	attracting conventions and tourists into the area of the
jurisdiction of the
	Commission, including, but not limited to, advertising, promotion
and
	publication of information?