1% Tax

[Stormchaser]

I think the total amount of cash generated for the town from the tax is about $300,000.

Nah, after the state gets their 35%, the town of Killington would still get up to $673,000 a year.

That really seems like a lot. So the overall 1% tax take from K would be in the neighborhood of $1 million (65% K, 35% state), making total sales volume around $100 million?

EDIT:
300K may be the resort contribution, 673K may be total revenue from the tax including all other businesses in town...

[skiingsnow]

I think the total amount of cash generated for the town from the tax is about $300,000.

Nah, after the state gets their 35%, the town of Killington would still get up to $673,000 a year.

That really seems like a lot. So the overall 1% tax take from K would be in the neighborhood of $1 million (65% K, 35% state), making total sales volume around $100 million?

The state would receive 30 percent of the proceeds and the town 70 percent.

The town's annual take from a local sales tax would be an estimated $338,099 a year; rooms tax, $196,402; meals and alcohol tax, $174,429. Together, if the three option taxes passed, it would raise an estimated $673,000 a year for the town.

Then theres a 5% "surcharge" or somethin another, going to the state.

[Nevada West]

I think the total amount of cash generated for the town from the tax is about $300,000.

Nah, after the state gets their 35%, the town of Killington would still get up to $673,000 a year.

That really seems like a lot. So the overall 1% tax take from K would be in the neighborhood of $1 million (65% K, 35% state), making total sales volume around $100 million?

The state would receive 30 percent of the proceeds and the town 70 percent.

The town's annual take from a local sales tax would be an estimated $338,099 a year; rooms tax, $196,402; meals and alcohol tax, $174,429. Together, if the three option taxes passed, it would raise an estimated $673,000 a year for the town.

Then theres a 5% "surcharge" or somethin another, going to the state.

The assumption is that business levels will remain the same, or moderately increase. What measures are being taken to address a decline in revenue?

[Stormchaser]

I think the total amount of cash generated for the town from the tax is about $300,000.

Nah, after the state gets their 35%, the town of Killington would still get up to $673,000 a year.

That really seems like a lot. So the overall 1% tax take from K would be in the neighborhood of $1 million (65% K, 35% state), making total sales volume around $100 million?

The state would receive 30 percent of the proceeds and the town 70 percent.

The town's annual take from a local sales tax would be an estimated $338,099 a year; rooms tax, $196,402; meals and alcohol tax, $174,429. Together, if the three option taxes passed, it would raise an estimated $673,000 a year for the town.

Then theres a 5% "surcharge" or somethin another, going to the state.

Those numbers are from town-wide businesses tho, correct? Not just from the resort?

I think Geoff's comment before was that 300K was the resorts contribution...

[Geoff]

I think Geoff's comment before was that 300K was the resorts contribution...

I don't remember exactly where I read that number but it related to the resort offering the town a chunk of money as a 'grant' with lots of strings attached where the other businesses in town would have to match it. I recall that $300K was the net to the town from the Killington Resort sales tax contribution after the state took their slice of the pie. I think I also read that there's a 70%/30% mix between Killington Resort and everybody else in the town.

I guess you can cocktail-napkin the number. Figure Killington now does 650,000 skier visits. The yield must be up since they killed off all the discount programs so call it $60.00 per skier per day. That's $40 million. 1% of that is $400K. Chop 1/3 off to give to the state and you're left with around $300K. It passes the sniff test. It's certainly not $30K and it's certainly not $3 million.

If it's 70/30 between the resort and the local businesses, Killington would need to have a skier yield up above $100/day to get you to SkippySnow's $673,000/year. That doesn't pass the sniff test. This is Killington, not Aspen. Only a tiny fraction of skier visits use Killington lodging or take lessons where the yield would be jacked up.

[Highway Star]

No, Killington does around 60-70% of the town's buisness revenue, which is around $100 million, give or take.

This tax "goes after" Killington....beacuse of the large amount of revenue, and because alot of their retail/food sales are tax inclusive.

The state then takes ~30% of the 1% tax, and gives it to other struggling towns around the state.



Personally, I like the idea of taking the tax and "renting" the resort in the spring - that would be hilarious. Every weekend, the town could rent out the resort and opertate it normally. Or even hold all inclusive parties. Maybe $75 per day for skiing, food, open bar, and a band.....I wonder if it could turn a profit....

Heck, with $650K.....? They could pay to open the resort for FREE for the the last 3-4 weekends, from late April into May.....assuming there is enough snow. No lift ticket charge. The town and the mountain make a killing on all the people coming up....selling food/bev, etc. That would bring a ton of people in to the area that probably would never come.

[Bubba]

The town's projected income from the tax was spelled out under several tax scenarios in February. If you go to the town's website or, possibly, the Grow Killington website the information will be there somewhere.

[skiingsnow]

The state would receive 30 percent of the proceeds and the town 70 percent.

The town's annual take from a local sales tax would be an estimated $338,099 a year; rooms tax, $196,402; meals and alcohol tax, $174,429. Together, if the three option taxes passed, it would raise an estimated $673,000 a year for the town.

Then theres a 5% "surcharge" or somethin another, going to the state.

Those numbers are from town-wide businesses tho, correct? Not just from the resort?

I think Geoff's comment before was that 300K was the resorts contribution...

I think others already anwered your question, but yes, these numbers above are from the entire town. Its been said that the resort would make up the bulk of the $338,000 sales tax, from the season passes and day tickets. Otherwise, from what Ive read, Dave declined to give numbers on how much the resort actually would contribute to each of the taxes, or even a total figure....

[Bart]

FWIW...I took bubby's advice and looked for info on the tax, did not find any specific numbers, I did find a report from "Killington's economic growth initiative" dated dec 2007, describing goals and the option tax in very preliminary terms

basically they want to hire an event's director to help market the town as a four-season resort

how they got from there (12/07) to passing the tax (feb08) is a work of political genius ?? i read where member's of the town were calling ksrp's 250K offer a bribe (inducemnet to not pass the tax, and/or a stalling tactic)...IMO..given the timeframe, I think the tax is better viewed as extortion on the part of don vito holcomb...the town father's probably believe if they get the tax passed now and the base village later...that will be in the best interest of the town (simple vermont folk...yeah right ?)

i.e. realizing ksrp is preparing to invest 100's of million in the town to create a base village that will in turn go a long way toward making killington a 4-season resort...


...taxing business to create business seems like a risky (and counter-intuitive) strategy...the converse, using tax incentives to stimulate business activity and investment, is used frequently !


...need to go ride now...seeing as how I got this impt message out of my system !

[Bubba]

FWIW...I took bubby's advice and looked for info on the tax, did not find any specific numbers, I did find a report from "Killington's economic growth initiative" dated dec 2007, describing goals and the option tax in very preliminary terms

basically they want to hire an event's director to help market the town as a four-season resort

how they got from there (12/07) to passing the tax (feb08) is a work of political genius ?? i read where member's of the town were calling ksrp's 250K offer a bribe (inducemnet to not pass the tax, and/or a stalling tactic)...IMO..given the timeframe, I think the tax is better viewed as extortion on the part of don vito holcomb...the town father's probably believe if they get the tax passed now and the base village later...that will be in the best interest of the town (simple vermont folk...yeah right ?)

i.e. realizing ksrp is preparing to invest 100's of million in the town to create a base village that will in turn go a long way toward making killington a 4-season resort...


...taxing business to create business seems like a risky (and counter-intuitive) strategy...the converse, using tax incentives to stimulate business activity and investment, is used frequently !


...need to go ride now...seeing as how I got this impt message out of my system !

Bart, the tax was voted on by the residents of Killington, not simply imposed by the Selectboard or its new Chairman (Norm Holcomb), and it passed by an almost 2 to 1 margin. On top of that, the issue and options were discussed openly at the Town Meeting a year ago and the issue was tabled at the time for further investigation and discussion. It was not a "work of political genius" developed between December and February.

Leading up to the Town Meeting this year, most thought it was going to be a close vote but Powdr's "push poll" phone survey, their refusal to accept any compromise beyond their proposal that made no real commitment, and even Chris Nyberg's remarks at the Town Meeting turned the tide in favor of the tax. I think Cumming, being in Utah, showed once again that he has badly misread the sentiments of the community and, once again, made the wrong decision. Personally, I think he needs to get his ass east to Killington and start talking directly to the community and, even more importantly, needs to start listening to the community.

[Geoff]

i.e. realizing ksrp is preparing to invest 100's of million in the town to create a base village that will in turn go a long way toward making killington a 4-season resort...

KSRP ain't doing crapola with the village. They operate the ski resort. The Texas money boys, E2M and their wholly owned subsidiary SP Land, control the real estate where the village is going to be built. The Park City boys have a small interest in the project but it ain't their development and it ain't their dollars. My guess is SP Land would flip their holding to some developer if anybody showed up. They're paying hefty property tax on all that land with no real prospect of getting a village project off the ground after KSRP contracted the resort.

[Stormchaser]

i.e. realizing ksrp is preparing to invest 100's of million in the town to create a base village that will in turn go a long way toward making killington a 4-season resort...

KSRP ain't doing crapola with the village. They operate the ski resort. The Texas money boys, E2M and their wholly owned subsidiary SP Land, control the real estate where the village is going to be built. The Park City boys have a small interest in the project but it ain't their development and it ain't their dollars. My guess is SP Land would flip their holding to some developer if anybody showed up. They're paying hefty property tax on all that land with no real prospect of getting a village project off the ground after KSRP contracted the resort.

So POWDR is really on our side? Make money w/o the village? And still complete the interconnect in 5 years? And once all infrastructure improvements are back on par, season extension comes back? Saweet!

[Bart]

bubbs, the KEGI report indicted the tax had been discussed, that's true, but
there was little or no real plan, infact the report was just a recap of ideas
the team had come up w/ at that point dec07

since there were no details, i think passing the tax was clever politically since they were exploiting (or piling on) the bad feelings toward powdr at the time (pretty obvious in NH post on KZ)..this combined w/ the fact that the tax isn't coming directly out of the towns people pockets (but indirectly could be !) made it an easy sell

this scenario, while you may disagree, is quite plausible ?

ya gotta give me somthin....eh'

[Stormchaser]

Tax is really on the users, not the businesses. If the businesses choose not to pass it along to customers, that's their call...

[Bart]

KSRP ain't doing crapola with the village. They operate the ski resort. The Texas money boys, E2M and their wholly owned subsidiary SP Land, control the real estate where the village is going to be built. The Park City boys have a small interest in the project but it ain't their development and it ain't their dollars. My guess is SP Land would flip their holding to some developer if anybody showed up. They're paying hefty property tax on all that land with no real prospect of getting a village project off the ground after KSRP contracted the resort.

I sort of agree w/ some of Geoff comments, I don't understand the arrangements (who's responsible for what) since I thought powdr was only supposed to be running skiing operations, and I think there are probably gaps in the management side of this partnership that are contributing to the perceived problems

but if Geoff comments are on target (in so many words) ...that is why I think the option tax is risky move on the town's part, since they may have won the battle only to lose the war ? i.e. if it cause's real money/development in the town/region to be put off further