I know we talked about this before, but from what I understand there has been some recent movement on this

Seems like the County officials see a need to expand the center --- renovate and increase capacity in the main arena, and expand facilities

I think it is needed. I do not agree with the notion that expansion is not needed because it never fills up anyway.

I think it never fills up because a lot of acts that might draw crowds do not play at the expo because it is a terrible venue (acoustically) for music

There are now 8 high schools holding commencement ceremonies there, and some are having to limit ticket allotments due to limited seating. There are also college graduations held there

Bell County is now about double the size it was when the center was built.

Again, IMO, renovation and expansion is needed

So, as usual, the issue is money. County officials want to stick visitors with the tab via an occupancy tax on hotel stays. This would enable the county to collect revenue without raising taxes on local constituents. It's the oldest trick in the book and happens all over. It is how college Station can say it is helping fund Kyle renovations, when in fact it is merely collecting money from tourists and passing that to A&M

The only problem is that the legislature must approve such a scheme, and although it has been approved in many other cities, our legislators are reluctant to do it because they do not want to be seen as "raising taxes" on anybody

I don't see this legislative stance changing with tea partier Molly White set to take office in January

So, will it happen? And who will pay?

Anybody got any "inside" information on the status/progress of this idea??

I thought Ralph passed an occupancy tax his first term?

And don't worry, where there's a will, there's a way. The county appraisers will subtly raise the values of our homes to come up with the money.

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I thought Ralph passed an occupancy tax his first term?

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Maybe. I don't remember.

But they want a new tax -- something like a buck or two per night stay

I honestly do not see White agreeing to this. Whether it's from increased valuation or new taxes, the only way I see this happening is if county residents pay for it...

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I honestly do not see White agreeing to this. Whether it's from increased valuation or new taxes, the only way I see this happening is if county residents pay for it...

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That pretty much sums it up, plus some push back from hotel owners on both sides of the issue.

Didn't they try this a few years ago and it got shot down? Seems like we're on repeat here.

I'm not saying taxing tourists is the most noble way to do it, but it's certainly a common way of doing it

Wonder why the legislature would let other cities/counties do it but not Bell County

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Wonder why the legislature would let other cities/counties do it but not Bell County

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As you noted earlier, our own local reps don't want to be seen as raising taxes. If they don't get behind it, no one else is going to waste time messing with something that isn't for their district.

IIRC, the last time this came up, a lot of complaints came from the Killeen/Ft Hood area. Most of their hotel patrons are military, or here visiting military families. So nobody wants to add taxes to them. But Ralph was for it because it took the burden off of locals. I really don't want my taxes to go up. And I don't stay in local hotels.

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last time this came up, a lot of complaints came from the Killeen/Ft Hood area

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I think it's the same this time around. Lots of hotels on the west side thinking this will only benefit hotels on the east side closer to the expo.

Occupancy tax right now is 13% in Bell County. 6% is put on by the states, 7% by each city. That is the maximum state/city. A number of counties in Texas have a 2% county venue occupancy tax.

Someone who was a cynic might say that Senator Fraser is using the military families as a convenient political shield for blocking what would be a boon for Central Texas, and that the real motivation for blocking the expansion, specifically the development of a high end equestrian facility, is that all the tourism dollars that are currently flowing into his hometown of Abilene might find their way into Bell County instead. We all know that Belton is a much easier place to travel to than Abilene from almost every significant population center in the state.

Coincidentally, Taylor County (Abilene) happens to have a 2% occupancy tax to support their venue.



[This message has been edited by texaggie2009 (edited 8/12/2014 9:30a).]

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IIRC, the last time this came up, a lot of complaints came from the Killeen/Ft Hood area. Most of their hotel patrons are military, or here visiting military families. So nobody wants to add taxes to them. But Ralph was for it because it took the burden off of locals. I really don't want my taxes to go up. And I don't stay in local hotels.

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I understand that point, but it strikes me as a bit disingenuous when the municipalities on the west side of the county don't have a moral objection to the 7% occupancy tax they impose on military families to fund their tourism departments. Just say "I don't want it because it doesn't benefit me" and leave it at that.

Interesting

Sort of makes you wonder of the families of the 13,000 military servicemen and civilians stationed at Dyess Air Force Base ever get to visit, or if the 2% occupancy tax in Taylor County forces those service personnel to spend holidays alone.



[This message has been edited by texaggie2009 (edited 8/12/2014 9:43a).]

I don't have to wonder....

The legislators are wrong

Sounds like the commissioners need to ramp up the rhetoric

Nah, that won't work because probably nobody gives a sh/t









[This message has been edited by Captain Pablo (edited 8/12/2014 9:55a).]

It's an unfortunate reality of the politics that go into the drawing of districts. Looking at this map, it would seem fairly obvious that the partial Taylor County and Callahan County don't really fit into Senate District 24, but Fraser has taken care of Abilene for a long time, and it would have been politically foolish for him to lose that base (or have to move back to Abilene/Northwest Texas from his nice home in the Texas Hill Country), so our district was drawn to include Central Texas + Abilene. And, as he has done since 1996, Senator Fraser took care of Abilene. In this case it was simply a negative side effect that taking care of Abilene meant harming Bell County.

Well, I know primarying him is unrealistic, but he's 65 and won't be there forever. next time maybe Bell County County can run a decent candidate.

Could be years though...

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Sounds like the commissioners need to ramp up the rhetoric

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They could, but Fraser has already assumed the "high ground" as faux champion for the troops, so it is a tough political battle to win. Even if a lot of people did see his actions for what they were, anyone west of Harker Heights is likely indifferent at best towards the expansion, so having to argue from a position of "anti-military family" to everyone who still bought what Fraser was selling would cost political capital they don't care to spend.

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Well, I know primarying him is unrealistic, but he's 65 and won't be there forever. next time maybe Bell County County can run a decent candidate.

Could be years though...

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I don't know enough about Senator Fraser to really dislike him. Obviously, I am perturbed by this particular issue, but at this point fairly ignorant to his record overall.

Even if he wasn't serving us well, I think you are right in that he'll be there until retirement or the next redistricting. I think the 2020 redrawing might be our best hope. Bell County is growing quickly, and there is a chance he'll have to drop us or Abilene in the go around.