Mammoth’s Business Improvement District tweaked again
Proposal to fund additional marketing altered once more
At a meeting Wednesday morning, the committee of business leaders who have been mulling the creation of a Business Improvement District (BID) once again changed the terms of the proposal.
The group, by a split decision, decided that it would back a proposal which would impose a room tax (TOT) increase of 1%, restaurant and retail tax increases of 1.5%, and a lift ticket tax of 2%.
Before Wednesday, the existing proposal had called for a 1% tax across the board for lodging, restaurants and retail with a 2% tax on lift tickets.
If passed by a majority of participating businesses (the threshold suggested for participation was $150,000 in gross sales with 50% of those sales outside the 93546 zip code), the BID is expected to generate nearly $5 million annually.
Almost $2 million annually will be dedicated to winter commercial flight guarantees.
The summer air subsidy would be split in some fashion by MMSA, the Town of Mammoth Lakes and Mono County.
Last year, the summer air subsidy cost $800,000, with the County contributing just over 10% and MMSA kicking in about one-third.
The BID would not go before the public for a vote, because it is technically a self-imposed tax by private businesses.
Businesses’ votes would be weighted based on sales, with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area’s portion of the vote accounting for 40% of the total.
Therefore, MMSA and a few other large businesses can essentially pass a BID all by themselves.
Attendees at Wednesday’s meeting included Rusty Gregory, Bob Peckenpaugh, Ron Cohen and Jim Smith from MMSA, Kirk Schaubmayer of the Alpenhof Lodge, Tony Colasardo of Footloose Sports, Tom Cage of Kittredge Sports, Michael Ledesma of Gomez’s Restaurant and Tequileria, Rhonda Duggan of Sierra Nevada Resort and John Morris of Snowcreek Resort. Town Councilmember and owner of the Old New York Deli Michael Raimondo appeared via speakerphone.
Gregory lobbies for more
MMSA CEO Rusty Gregory challenged committee members to raise the stakes on Wednesday, saying if you believe in the growth story (that the best way to dig out of a financial hole is by growing business) and if you believe that dollars spent on marketing produce a greater overall return on investment, then it was imperative to increase the percentages included in the proposal.
“This [the existing proposal] is not enough money to make this group as powerful as it wants to be.” He suggested that “the small, parochial town of Mammoth may not … understand these things the way we do.”
In a shocking development, Messrs. Peckenpaugh, Smith and Cohen agreed with him. Smith, MMSA’s Vice-President of Real Estate, said the argument should be framed as one of “investment” as opposed to yet another expense.
Cage, Colasardo and Ledesma supported keeping the proposal as is (at 1% for lodging, restaurant, retail). Ledesma, who is also saddled with a three-quarters of a percent resort fee, believes we are just too close to alienating too many customers as it is.
Colasardo added that “retail [spending] is discretionary, and everyone is on the cheap.” Every additional penny of tax can potentially tilt the balance.
To sweeten the pot, Gregory said he would offer participating local small businesses discounted and transferable season passes for employees (the passes could be bought for jobs, not individuals, so if an employee left, he/she couldn’t take the pass with them) if they would agree to a higher tax rate.
This piqued the interest of Cage, who buys about 20 such passes a year, but he didn’t know if it would sway the many local retailers he has spoken to who oppose the BID at any price.
One thing everyone in the room could agree on is that the Town wants way too much money to administer the BID.
Urdi said that entities typically charge 1 to 2% to administer and collect the revenue from such a program.
The Town’s Finance Dept. told Urdi it wanted $175,000 annually to do the job (for the existing proposal, or more than 4%).
“I’m just concerned because the Finance Department scares me,” said Urdi.
A downward negotiation of the number is expected.
Rusty, the most hated man in Mammoth Lakes!
A tax is still a tax…
We have gone to war over them.
If your for a self imposed tax, your a MORON!
another brilliant scheme by the esteemed Mr. Gregory…and people keep falling for them. How does he do it???
Oboy, I can’t wait for the 1.5% restaurant and retail BID “non-tax” to be passed on to me when I go to the store or eat out, because I know that the majority of that money will be used to subsidize the airfares of rich skiers in Southern California: what a noble purpose!
This BID proposal is a complete ripoff; a pure cash gouge that will clip everyone who lives or vacations in Mammoth to disproportionately benefit MMSA and a few other businesses; it isn’t going to do a damn thing to benefit the town as a whole.
Why doesn’t Rusty just add 5% to the cost of lift tickets alone, and use that dough to subsidize the airfare, instead of trying to
spread the cost across the entire Mammoth Community?
It’s time for the town government of Mammoth Lakes to quit being a sucker whose main purpose in life is to serve as an ATM cash cow for a few local businesses like MMSA.
“It’s time for the town government of Mammoth Lakes to quit being a sucker whose main purpose in life is to serve as an ATM cash cow for a few local businesses like MMSA.”
Oh, but it is. Always has been and forever will be until MMSA dries up and blows away. Now people see the true face of what they bought into. If MMSA ever closes, then there will be an opportunity for a new direction, not until.
Time to move on for some short sighted folks. From what my calculator says MMSA is by a wide margin the largest revenue generator in town and they support taxing themselves TO GROW their business via more customer outreach which takes money to do so. If it works it benefits all businesses in town , not just a few as one post stated. More revenue in town from more TOT and sales tax collected trickles down to better town services, amenities, etc. which all create more jobs. Us working people like myself have no problem paying a little tax putting money back in the community in addition to tourist. It is time to think OUT of Box for a change. Don’t go away mad…just go away!
25 years ago “We The People” were sold a bill of goods to incorporate.
We were promised 10’s of Millions of dollars for marketing,
better snow removal, stronger bridges, infrastructure. We were promised that our lives would be better.
We believed them and took the bait hook, line and sinker.
25 years later the truth is obvious.
If you “Rocket Surgeons” think another TAX, (and it is a tax) is going to fix the problems you created YOU are dead wrong.
You squandered away hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars and got us into the 49 million airport debacle. You have messed up.
STOP!
The same guys doing the same things will yield the same results.
This Business Embezzlement District ( BED ) must be voted on by the town council. This “BEST TAX SCHEME EVER” wouldn’t of made it this far if they didn’t have the votes, It’s time to through all five of these lackeys out of office.
Second home owners vote with your dollar$, the only thing these parasites are really concerned about! TOT submitters pull your places out of the rental pools, if you must rent to make ends meet consider VRBO to cut out the middle man and try and rent for 30 days or longer to eliminate the TOT tax liability, it’s never been easier so I’m told. Cleaning and maintenance services are available for far less than you’re currently being charged.
All taxpayers should consider a boycott on all local businesses until they reign in this insatiable greed of their puppet masters! Shop in Bishop, the internet, cook at home and pack your lunch, do what ever you can to impact their bottom lines.
A class action legal challenge needs to be explored for all of Mammoth taxpayers. This is a Tax not a FEE and needs to be called and treated like the tax that it is !