The Town of Chesterton should have more say on the Porter County Convention, Recreation, and Visitors Commission (PCCRVC) board on how and where revenues collected from the innkeeper’s tax are spent.

That’s the view of Town Council Member Jeff Trout, R-2nd, who at Monday’s meeting lent his support to any restructuring of the PCCRVC board which gives more voice to the municipalities whose hotels actually contribute the bulk of the revenues from the innkeeper’s tax.

The “cities and towns in Porter County are not equitably represented on the PCCRVC board,” Trout said, reading from a prepared statement, “when you consider where the board’s funding comes from. Currently the City of Valparaiso’s hotels contribute approximately 40 percent of the funding and the city is allowed to appoint one member to the board. The Town of Chesterton’s hotels currently contribute approximately 30 percent of the funding and we are allowed to appoint one third of one board member. Our appointment is a joint appointment with the Town of Burns Harbor and the Town of Porter. The remaining approximately 30 percent of revenue comes from hotels located in the City of Portage and they are allowed to appoint two members to the PCCRVC board.”

The Porter County Commissioners, on the other hand, appoint four of the nine PCCRVC board members, Trout noted, while the Porter County Council controls the budget derived from the innkeeper’s tax, which “is collected almost entirely from within municipal boundaries.”

“Nearly $90,000 is skimmed off the top to go to supporting the county Expo Center, Memorial Opera House, and the county park system,” Trout said. “Tourism taxation should be used to attract visitors to our area and get them to spend money in our local economy, not to support county government operations. When visitors become customers in our local restaurants, shops, and hotels, our local economy grows and jobs are created in the private sector.”

“It is debatable if the property taxes collected from these hotels cover the total cost of municipal police, fire, street, and utility services,” Trout added. “The point is that giving more equitable control over the $1 million a year revenue stream created by the innkeeper’s tax to local governments is a good idea. Chesterton’s European Market and Valparaiso’s Downtown Fine Dining plan are just two examples of more prudent opportunities to use innkeeper’s tax dollars. Tourism taxes that are taken from private businesses should be used to help strengthen the core of our downtown centers, expand business opportunities, and create jobs.”

“The current statute may not be taxation without representation,” Trout concluded, “but it certainly is taxation with very little representation for the Town of Chesterton and others. The people of Chesterton deserve a change. I look forward to working with state, county, and municipal officials to create new legislation to update the PCCRVC board appointment and budget process.”

Last week Porter County Commissioner Robert Harper, D-Center, blasted a piece of legislation, reportedly being considered in the current special session of the General Assembly, which he said would authorize the cities of Valparaiso and Portage to appoint the PCCRVC board. Harper argued that special-interest legislation is “dangerous,” that Porter County officials have been fiscally responsible with the proceeds of the innkeeper’s tax, and that the PCCRVC has acquitted itself well.

Posted 6/23/2009