Sunshine Coast Tourism (SCT) members will be getting another opportunity to vote on the municipal and regional district tax.
Celia Robben, SCT president, said the ministry of finance had suspended work on the organization’s application for the new tax, which the group wanted in place on January 1, 2013. It is a two per cent consumer tax on sales of short-term accommodation at businesses with four or more units of accommodation.
“It is sitting on hold and they are waiting for a clear mandate to come from our accommodation sector,” Robben said. “They will have to vote again.”
The development was announced during SCT’s annual general meeting (AGM) October 3 in Egmont.
The setback comes on the heels of a petition campaign started by Josaphine Scheifele, co-owner and operator of Desolation Resort in Lund and an outspoken critic of the tax.
“At point of signing there were 26 signatures from operators based all over the Sunshine Coast,” Scheifele said.
At the AGM, members approved a new set of bylaws aimed to address concerns about the tax.
“It’s a conversation being held by the industry as we move forward,” Robben said. “We have a solid group of operators who have been in favour of this from the start, and there’s a group that has not been in favour from the start. So we’re trying to listen to both sides and find some common ground.”
SCT applied to the province in July requesting implementation of the tax. The SCT submission included letters of support from all six local governments and signatures of approval representing 56 per cent of eligible accommodation properties and 64 per cent of eligible rooms—both over the province’s 50 per cent requirement.
The tax would generate about $250,000 per year, 75 per cent for regional marketing and 25 per cent for local tourism-enhancement projects, and SCT forecasts annual room revenues would rise by four per cent.
Robben said some misinformation on the tax had been circulated, but “on the other hand, there is realistic disagreement with wanting to go this route, and that has to be respected.”
The biggest concern expressed by opponents, she said, is the issue of fairness, as some hotel operators believe the tax should be shared by other businesses that benefit from tourism.
Scheifele said the petitioners called for SCT to withdraw its application to the province and redraft its proposed budget, giving more voting control over financial decisions to the accommodation sector.
She said some operators who signed the petition felt pressured to accept the tax and others are steadfastly against any new tax being introduced under present business conditions.
Members at the AGM adopted a bylaw exempting the group’s 46 hotel operators from membership dues and guaranteeing four seats on the 11-member board of directors to the accommodation sector. As well, a revised budget has been developed.
-with files from John Gleeson, Coast Reporter
