tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post3377294874167521851..comments2023-08-13T05:48:46.583-06:00Comments on Crowsnest Pass Home: Economic Task Force Report-Hotel TaxCrowsnest Pass Homehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05045130138290202472noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-82933798320028104152011-06-27T14:34:27.302-06:002011-06-27T14:34:27.302-06:00The more I think about this gas tax the more I lik...The more I think about this gas tax the more I like it.It really will not cost the average local taxpayer a lot but could bring in a lot of money to cover costs towards tourism promotion.What do you think of these numbers.<br /> 1000 vehicles/day -100 litres each equals 1000.00/day. <br /> As for the truck stop idea, I really like this also.I think it would be a perfect fit on the outskirts of town.As for the 1 gas station owner who thinks this will hurt his business, I am sorry but we can not have the attitude of not growing if it will effect a few.Comments anyone?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-48587882465288461352011-06-27T08:48:16.103-06:002011-06-27T08:48:16.103-06:00I'm sorry Dean I really don't know anythin...I'm sorry Dean I really don't know anything about the gas tax idea. This is the fist I've heard of it here. I sort of remember something about it being charged in some where in California I think but I couldn't find any info on it <br />In my previous post I was only referring to how to charge the provincial levy (I've never been involved in charging a destination levy). It surprises me that the provincial levy is charged on the destination levy amount. The whole taxing a tax thing. <br /><br />@anon 10:02 The provincial levy is mostly used to fund Travel Alberta and although they do promote camping a little but very little and I don't think I've ever heard of them advocating random camping. They mostly fund marketing schemes for areas ,groups of operators ( the little Crowsnest travel guide a couple of years ago was partially funded by travel Alberta) ,operate the 9 VIC's in the province ( the one out at the lakes is funded by Travel Alberta and then managed by the Chamber) + the Travel Alberta Website and then promote the province (ie. commercials like the SuperNatural British Columbia but the Alberta ones) as a whole to other Canadians as well as overseas. <br />And by the way the bulk of my guests in the summer are here from the US and Ontario fly -fishing or they are families here going to the heritage sites,hiking and going to the festivals or just exploring the area. Now that's not to say that there are not campers out there but from my experience the bulk of them are from with in 3 hours of here and there numbers are small in comparison ( they do tend to flock to town when it rains etc and its done a lot of that in the last couple of years) Most of those campers you see going down the highway are headed to BC.<br /><br />In the last couple of years we have seen a drop in sledders staying in the area. Last year we had more snow than we have had in years but the sledders didn't come, They headed straight on by. Many of the operators attribute that to the lack of area marketing presence for the area as a whole. I myself see a number of reasons for it including that.Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08057601048458583290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-9764871659105938532011-06-26T23:02:33.951-06:002011-06-26T23:02:33.951-06:00A major tourist attraction of the region is that y...A major tourist attraction of the region is that you may camp for free on Crown land (including 30%?? of the municipality). These tourists don't usually plan to spend their limited vacation time shopping on our main streets or eating in restaurants, so they bring their supplies from Calgary or Lethbridge.<br /><br />The Provincial hotel tax goes towards promoting this kind of tourism, which contributes little to our economy. An additional hotel levy would be hard to justify unless it was used to attract tourists to local hotels and businesses. What would be the "target group" of tourists?<br /><br />I was hoping for some new ideas from the Task Force, but it turns out their mandate was just to rehash ideas from previous reports. Hiring a tourism coordinator might help, but (s)he will have the job description of promoting existing tourism, or whatever comes along.<br /><br />CNP Council should be proactive in asking the province to manage Crown lands in and around us to benefit our economy. I haven't seen that, correct me if I'm wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-91222923573775704712011-06-25T11:23:15.679-06:002011-06-25T11:23:15.679-06:00Dawn do you know anything about the fuel levy? hav...Dawn do you know anything about the fuel levy? having a tough time finding information on that.Crowsnest Pass Homehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045130138290202472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-55567383338781985072011-06-25T11:22:11.802-06:002011-06-25T11:22:11.802-06:00Here is the example from Canmore you can clearly s...Here is the example from Canmore you can clearly see the GST and the provincial levy are being charged on the Destination marketing fee.<br /><br />http://www.chla.ca/dmf/faqs.php<br /><br />I agree there are lots of places where this is charged but every one I have checked is on a voluntary basis. Going back to the Canmore example only 19% of the operators are involved after 4 years of being in place.Crowsnest Pass Homehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045130138290202472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-47083851369317383222011-06-25T10:35:22.161-06:002011-06-25T10:35:22.161-06:00The topic of an additional tourism levy has been t...The topic of an additional tourism levy has been tossed around here for some time. How they will implement it will be interesting to see. But I do see a great deal of problems if it is a voluntarily thing where some operators charge it and others don't. <br /><br />An additional destination levy is charged in more places than I can count, all over the world. <br />In the case of the provincial levy it is charged on any lodging operation of 4 rooms or more and is on the amount of the room cost excluding GST and you do not charge GST on the levy. Hence $100 per night room x 5% gst and 4% TL= $109.00 per night. It is not charged on stays of over 28 days.Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08057601048458583290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-53688988904170776032011-06-24T16:34:32.576-06:002011-06-24T16:34:32.576-06:00Dean do you know anything about this gas tax. It s...Dean do you know anything about this gas tax. It seems too good to be true, if it was that simple wouldn't every community do it. It would sure lessen the burden on the residential taxpayer. And a great revenue generator for all municipalities. <br />Do you know of a community with this in place? how long did it take them to put it in place. It would be interesting to know.<br /><br />LarryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-87590211060950162082011-06-24T13:28:32.916-06:002011-06-24T13:28:32.916-06:00Most hotels charge it prior to the present tourism...Most hotels charge it prior to the present tourism levy and GST, so the client now pays an additional 9% on the marketing destination charge.<br /><br />I think these numbers are wrong.If a room costs 100.00 x 4% tax equals 4.00 plus GST of .20 on that 4.00 equals 4.20 or in this case 4.2%.<br /> I also do not think it will be the deciding factor as to where you stay.4.20 per night will not influence many.<br /> I am more interested in the potential .01/liter at the pumps. What kind of money could this bring in. Would locals have to pay it? Every 100 liters you buy would cost you a buck, I could live with that.My question would be how much gas gets sold in a year at the local pumps.Every million litres would bring in 10,000.00Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-16734391560665981692011-06-24T12:57:29.672-06:002011-06-24T12:57:29.672-06:00As a tourism operator in the Crowsnest Pass let me...As a tourism operator in the Crowsnest Pass let me assure you and the council I for one will NOT be collecting the tax.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-9699159862368262612011-06-24T12:03:25.665-06:002011-06-24T12:03:25.665-06:00Do you think that this council will debate this wh...Do you think that this council will debate this when they have not debated anything up to this point.<br />Or will they discuss the issues behind<br />closed doors. This council run on<br />been transparent which I have not seen up to this point.<br /><br />David Cole (Choppy)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3170383155508070340.post-91216083547865982012011-06-24T11:51:09.617-06:002011-06-24T11:51:09.617-06:00"Spirited (public) debate" from this cou..."Spirited (public) debate" from this council? Surely you're joking? :-(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com