Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Open thread: a Darke County tax on Eldora tickets?

One of the commission candidates is campaigning on the idea of Darke County issuing a tax on tickets to Eldora Raceway. The gist of the argument is that a $1 ticket tax, for example, would not deter any race fans from coming to Eldora. And since 90% of Eldora fans are from out-of-county, this tax would have the effect of bringing lots of out-of-county dollars to Darke County.

Any thoughts on this idea?

46 comments:

  1. Great Idea. Anything to help out our county in these tough economic times. I dont think any race fan would miss a dollar. They would forget about the dollar they spent for taxes by the time they got to there 12th beer.

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  2. Malcolm in the MiddleApril 20, 2010 at 4:44 PM

    yeah, let's penalize the spot of economic growth in the county.

    You conservatives should be outraged by this idea.

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  3. Hey lets tax a $1 for every pizza to. And then a $1 for every beer. Then we could tax $1 for every highschool sporting event. Hey its only a dollar. Come on! They would have that dollar spen so fast we would have to tax another dollar. This is the dumbest idea for a candidate to propose for their campaign. Just keep taxing us. They should be tossed right out of the election and I hope voters finally wake up!

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  4. I'll bet the candidate is a Republican!

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  5. It must be a brain fart,of i like mike...

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  6. tax,tax,tax,how would you like to be taxed a dollar every where you went.its no wonder we are always so broke!!! dumb idea.
    who ever thought of that idea,i would like to have his money..

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  7. Dumb and dumber. It is craziness to tax Eldora. If really think this path to pursue, we should explore tourism tax that adds to the admission price of Garst Museum, all hotels, all theaters, and performances. The list is not exhaustive.

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  8. SOMEBODY has to pay some taxes! If not on entertainment and other non-necessities, then what? Would it be better for the county to raise the local sales tax, which local residents would have to pay?

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  9. 90% of fans are from out of county??? huh? Might want to attend a race and verify that! Seems a little discriminatory to single out 1 single place to me. What about the Great Darke County Fair??? Oh that's off limits? Which Candidate is this anyways???

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  10. Is Eldora going to stop hosting races because of a tax? Nope. Add a tax of a dollar to each ticket, will people stop showing up? Nope.

    My only worry is where does it end. Tax admission to the fair? Tax admission to the Steam Threshers/Farm Power of the Past?

    And that's a pretty narrow tax to be levying. Anyone think a lawsuit would come from it? I can definitely see it. I have a feeling it would cost the county more in litigation costs than what it would earn from the tax.

    Who had this idea, anyway? Not bad, I must say! Just it may lead to some things not thought of.

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  11. Bad idea and who is the candidate, he can expect 2 NO votes from my house.

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  12. So....let's raise taxes to balance our budget instead of cutting the budget....NOT SMART! Hope WHOEVER it is doesn't get elected. Whoever this is should probably run for congress:)

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  13. I would love to hear what Tony has to say about this... Ridiculous idea! So, if a ticket costs $10 dollars now you would want it to cost $11???!!! Really, a 10 percent tax? ONLY a dollar??? You can not tax one and not all, don't punish the great work the Baltes' and Tony Stewart have done, he has already said he isn't raising ticket prices before any of this was mentioned.

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  14. Please be Bob Robinson! I'm not voting for him anyway, but whatever it takes to keep him out of office I am all for it! He just needs to GO AWAY, as does the Advocate.

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  15. Better reveal who this candidate is - comments will keep coming until you do.

    Reminds me of the air carrier who wants to charge for carry-on luggage. That created a back-lash and got the attention of the government.

    Is there any common sense left anymore?

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  16. I wonder if this “want-a-be” candidate has any idea how much money Eldora brings into this county? Their fans fill Motels; eat at Restaurants, and buys gas at Gas Stations just to name a few areas that Darke County is already reaping benefits. Remember Mercer County may just love to attract more of these fans.

    Yeah sounds just like a money hungry politician, penalizing a big contributor, Eldora Speedway, to our county tax base. They always say you can’t fix stupid, so let’s find out who this is and make sure he is not elected.

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  17. must be a hypocrit Republican

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  18. Well taxing an existing business that is doing well sounds about right. Whoever this idiot is he's probably related to the idiots before him that let places like Corning walk out the door and slam it in evour faces. Let's let Darke County loose a couple more businesses and we won't have to worry about it. When all a person can think about in this day in age is what else they can tax, I'd say we are back to where we've always been, our elections are always the lesser of 6 evils.

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  19. I hear a lot of you saying it is a bad idea. What ideas do you have to raise 500,000 annually. The proposal is for professional sporting events, which eldora falls under. There is only so much money you can cut out of the budget. As citizens of this county anyone can request a budget. Pick one up and see if you can find an area to cut.

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  20. Instead of taxing a thriving business, how about we get some more like it so their patrons can give our economy a boost. Seems like the only business that open are duplicates of what already exists. It starts with a dollar and never ends.

    As for the county budget, there is still alot to be trimmed. Haven't scratched the surface. Do some research.

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  21. Appears to be a lot of TEA Party people in here. Well you know what? Welcome to America. This country is funded by tax dollars. The country needs more money to operate. Where does the money come from again? Taxes. So what do we do to get more money to operate? Taxes.

    The roads you drive on.
    The schools your kids go to.
    The parks you enjoy.
    The military that protects you.

    Don't like it? Get out. Patriots my ass, a true patriot would support their country rather than sit and complain about the funding.

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  22. "Professional sporting events", you say that like we have others...

    So now all those weekend racers are professional athletes??? I work with a lot of those weekend racers, and if they were professional athletes they sure as hell would not be working in a factory! Just because we get all those big name racers in there once a year does not make it a professinal sporting event all the time!

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  23. I think it's a good way to make money for our county and not hurt too bad. While I agree this could lead to run amuk taxes, if it were to be only Eldora, it would be a huge help and nobody will stay home from a race over an extra buck. Our country is in dire straights right now and we all have to help to get back on track. I hate taxes as much as the next guy, but sometimes they are nessesary, as long as we do not let it spiral out of control.

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  24. I suggest everyone attend the meet the candidates forum on Monday night & find out what each of them is proposing. That is one way to ensure you are voting for the right person.

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  25. Everyone would rather gripe than to actually look up the budget and try to help! People this day want everything and don't want to pay for it! Really, would $1 kill anyone? Maybe you should stay home if it does! Or better yet, go get a job!

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  26. To just Tax race tickets is stupid and discriminating, do you tax Tractor pulls, horse races, Demo Derby, motorcycle races. If you tax 1 you need to tax them all.

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  27. So according to the chat, the candidate is Ed Huffman. But, c'mon folks, think about it - SOMEONE is going to have to be taxed SOMEWHERE in order to make up this debt the county is in. a $1 per ticket tax? Seriously? Up in arms over $1? A church youth group bringing 50 people to a race is out $50 more. $550 instead of $500 for tickets. At least that is how I understand it from reading. I haven't talked to him or anything to get the full details. And from my understanding as well, Ed Huffman is frequently in attendance at Eldora events. So he is taxing HIMSELF! I have heard several people complain that they hear Bob Robinson is not a property owner in Darke County. So, if a property tax issue came up, he'd be making decisions on taxing SOMEONE ELSE and not himself. At least Huffman would be taxing something he already does. You go to a Reds, Bengals, Dragons game or whatever, and you are paying a tax on those tickets and attendance at that event which is likely more than the $1 per ticket (too early to do the research. Anyone want to jump on that?).

    Residents of Darke County - you need to suck it up and realize that you WILL have to face some new taxes to make up for the county debt. Stop complaining about a tax proposal that wouldn't affect most people and would pull revenue from outside the traditional tax structure in the county. It is just that right now - a proposal. If you think the other candidates don't have some ideas up their sleeves on who to tax and how much in order to make up the debt, you are fooling yourself. They probably just don't want to lose votes right now by having the cahones to say it. And if they say "broaden the tax base," realize it just means that they want your vote and will worry about who to tax and how later on.

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  28. Admission tax is nothing new... it's just new to Darke County. Muncipalities in Ohio are permitted by law to levy a tax on places of entertainment and amusement. That includes Eldora Speedway, Garst Museum, Darke Co. Fair, small events like Steam Threshers reunion, movie theatres even country club dues, well if we had a country club. The admission tax generally applies to any for profit company that sells tickets to enter their location.

    Ohio State Legislators are discussing the idea of stopping local municipalities from enacting new or increasing old admission taxes.

    To see what municipalities are levying the tax, follow this link: http://tax.ohio.gov/divisions/tax_analysis/tax_data_series/sales_and_use/s5/documents/S5CY07.pdf.

    The information is a bit dated but it gives you an idea of what is being collected in Ohio.

    I too am curious as to which candidate running for commissioner has proposed this idea. Also, where will the tax collected by used?

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  29. I am a person who travels to Eldora for the Prelude race. I personally don't mind paying an extra dollar on my ticket if it helps the LOCAL economy there. My family is local to the track and I know times are tough for alot of people around there. I would have a problem if my extra dollar doesn't go towards helping the people who need a boost to the local economy.

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  30. First off, I am in no way affiliated with the TEA party and would assume the same goes for a lot of the people on here, second off not everyone can attend these meet the candidates meetings. I work full time and go to school three days a week. I have no problem paying more taxes, I actually support it when done right. A real patriot gets the facts, votes based on the information available to them and then has every right to complain if they don't like something.


    I agree with Anonmymous 10:04, this person is probably related to the same person who let Corning walk out. I couldn't vote for a person like this because how do I know he won't want to tax the company I work for just because they are doing well.

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  31. The county is all ready makeing money off of the race fans. Go to any fast food business or Wal-Mart or any businees in Greenville and see how many GREEN BACKS are being spent and TAX dollars are being made by the county off of this money during a BIG RACE WEEKEND. Just ask NASCAR what has happen to attendance at races they did not TAX the tickets or raise prices in fact they DROP PRICES. ANOTHER STUPID POLITICIAN

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  32. I think the Tractor Pull at the Fair is a professional sporting event, and there should be a tax on all participants and spectators, and since their transport trucks are all over weight, the county should charge a road use tax.
    (at least that is what the (mostly farmers) tell their tax accountants as they write off the expense for a $1000000 bomb proof bellhousing for a "tractor" they use in a tractor pull.
    Suggest the tax on the farmers for their sporting event and see what happens.

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  33. It's my understanding Mr Robinson lives in a rented apartment in town. It's not like he owns half of Mercer County. He rents as I do, and the property he rents does get taxes paid on it, just by somebody else through his monthly rent just like mine. We are all residents here.

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  34. "I agree with Anonmymous 10:04, this person is probably related to the same person who let Corning walk out"

    Who let Corning "Walk out"? and what exactly were they supposed to do to keep them here?
    Maybe you are not aware that those decisions are made at the corporate level and not locally.

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  35. Mr Robinson lives in the country on 36

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  36. I am aware those decisions aremade at a corporate level as I work for a large corporation myself... They make those decisions based on how much it costs them
    to produce the product. If the county can't work with them on incentives to stay, they will leave and produce it somewhere where the city is more than happy to give them the breaks they are looking for. The same thing could very well happen where I work.

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  37. To all you crying about cutting the county budget. You will be the first ones bitching and crying because crime goes up. You know the first place they will cut is the sheriff's department and the road crews. Whoever is saying must be a republican is a dumbass. A repub might of suggested this, but its dems that want to tax us to death. Never heard of the Tea party movement until Obama took office. All yeah, who won't renew the Bush tax cuts? A dem!!!

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  38. You know I cant believe some of these responses. Oh... it's just a dollar. Oh... everyone would rather gripe than try to help! Come on people! Look at the wasteful spending. One example. Look at the prime property the county had to buy right on wagner. You think we are getting property taxes on that? What about the money they spent on it? I will say one thing thats some mighty fine frontage they got there. Why dont they tell me what they are going to do for me rather than what they want to take from me. Dem or Rep I dont care, but they better be cutting expenses in order to save money!

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  39. You should all look at the fine job the county commissioners are doing. Look at all the counties around us cutting the Sheriffs Dept. and ours is still fine. All the other counties are struggling with deficit, not ours otherwise there would be cuts in budgets. I also heard that come summer time, the startup for the "courthouse parking" will proceed. So don't worry, things are going great and the courthouse will be built as promised.

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  40. A dollar here, a dollar there. Go back 20 years, and compare what the taxes were then, and how many dollars here and there added up to . Might be suprising for some. A dollar here and a dollar there really adds up. Be carefull what you ask for, you just might get it.

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  41. The County has cut Sheriff Services, they can't cut much more, when you have 3 cars patrolling the county then thats a real problem, If their going to tax events, tax them all, insteadof selective taxing.

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  42. How about we tax the Welfare checks that are handed out every month? Oh wait we can't because they come from taxes. True, but so do the paychecks of public employees, military, and a large number of non profit agencies.

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  43. Yes. It was Huffman who said it. Stegall is completely AGAINST it and questions whether it is even legal....for many of the reasons people have brought up here on this thread. Robinson has said nothing either way. I have heard all 3 of them speak this past couple of weeks- several times, in fact (FYI: they have been ALL OVER the place, at all hours of every day speaking, fo weeks- there is NO excuse good enough for why any of you haven't heard this first-hand!) I almost got the impression that Robinson is upset that he didn't think of the Eldora tax himself. Regardless, he sure didn't debate it or question it in any way when I heard all this....which is the part that actually bothers me most-- he doesn't even know enough to QUESTION such a thing! At least Stegall had the good sense and intelligence to question the merits and validity of such a proposal.

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  44. You know, if you go to any other city/state for an auto race, concert, sporting event, or even to an amusment park... you are very often paying this type of "fee" (or call it a tax if you will). Check you ticket receipts, it's there.
    The point is that this is a common practice for this type of event. Darke Co. might as well get on the band wagon. Most, and I do mean most, of the people that go to Eldora on a regular basis are from out of town. Their money would benefit the county as a whole.

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  45. Why not try spending cuts as opposed to generating tax revenue. When I overspend in my personal economy, I don't go to my boss and demand a raise to pay for my overspending. Whomever suggested a "targeted" tax increase, to a particular business should be booted out of office.

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  46. Brian Phillips

    April 20, 2010 4:38 PM

    "Great Idea. Anything to help out our county in these tough economic times. I dont think any race fan would miss a dollar. They would forget about the dollar they spent for taxes by the time they got to there 12th beer."

    I think we should tax anyone with the name of "Brian Phillips" 1 dollar per day. This targeted tax increase on the "Brian Phillips" name would generate badly needed revenue for the county. Anyways, it is only 1 dollar and anyone with the "Brian Phillips" name won't even miss it.

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