reprinted from:
Coming to bat: a bed tax hike
Copyright 2003
Plain Dealer Publishing Co. A proposed hotel tax increase for the $22 million baseball stadium project in Eastlake will soon have its day before the Lake County commissioners. We hope they look favorably upon it. Eastlake, the Lake County Visitors Bureau and several other cities want the commissioners to increase the county's hotel bed tax so that Eastlake can get $200,000 a year for 10 years to pay down $2 million in bonds. The tax would be increased from 1.25 percent to 3 percent, with about 0.9 percentage points dedicated solely to the ballpark. Already, objections have been raised by a Mentor official, and they deserve a hearing. Mentor City Councilman Ron Micchia says he doubts the tax can be used for a capital improvement project, and he questions whether the ballpark will benefit the rest of the county. Denis Benford, president of the Lake County Visitors Bureau, responds that the ballpark, now under construction on Vine Street, meets the definition of tourism since the project could bring in restaurants, retail and visitors from other cities. On the other hand, there's little debate about the excitement the stadium has generated. Eastlake has a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians signed up to play in April. The team, the Lake County Captains, has signed a 25-year lease and is already selling tickets to the stadium, which has room for more than 8,000 spectators. The commissioners have a duty to go over all of the arguments - the naysayers' questions about the project's economic impact and the boosters' promises of a field of dreams - before they make the final decision. Most likely, reality will be found
somewhere in the middle of the competing claims. But having gone this far on
what could be a good deal for Eastlake and Lake County, the commissioners
shouldn't find the bed tax idea unreasonable. |
