We would like to speak out against this newly proposed tourism enhancement fund, or “bed” tax, in Soldotna.
In addition to the fact that this is a very industry specific and targeted tax that will simply push people to stay outside the city limits, this is an absolutely HORRIBLE time for the city to be even suggesting burdening taxpayers with one more additional tax!
Surely everyone in Soldotna has been to the grocery store and seen our prices lately? Soldotna City Water and Sewer prices are on another 5-year increase cycle, HEA is getting ready to increase their prices Jan. 1, gas prices are more expensive than ever … Need I continue? Our community is being burdened with an economy that has prices increasing all around us; this is a very unnecessary expense we do not need right now.
Sales tax data from 2018-2022 show our borough and Soldotna itself are doing pretty darn well with healthy tax income (having already targeted daily tax locally on Airbnbs as well as all of our online purchases). I would suggest prior to adding a tax on citizens, drill down on if it’s absolutely necessary? This seems like a “want” and not a “need” in a high inflation economy.
We also believe this tax is premature because we already know the new indoor sports complex will lead to increased traffic and spend within Soldotna without front loading a tax. Maybe we should wait to see if that need is still there after the complex opens? Particularly because once the city implements a tax, they never seem to remove a tax.
We do agree it’s feasible to monitor increased tax income after the new complex is in operations, and if it will not pay for itself perhaps that is a better time for this conversation.
It has been suggested Soldotna is “behind the curve” in implementation of such a tax, however, that couldn’t be further from the truth. You are comparing apples and oranges with the comparison to other cities, such as Anchorage, where a city and borough sales tax does not currently exist as a daily burden to community members.
Standing out as a city because of the benefits the city provides everyone is what makes people want to come and do business there … but standing out as a city because of how hard or expensive it is to do business is not a positive attribute.
We hope the city council members currently reject this tax as we do.
— Lela and Scott Rosin
