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News Updates

Tax hike to help pay for center

Commissioners to vote on increase

Reprinted with permission from the Tallahassee Democrat and Jeff Burlew.

A proposed performing-arts center in Tallahassee is expected to get a big boost Tuesday, when Leon County commissioners vote on raising a tax on hotel stays to help pay for the facility.

Commissioners approved the tax increase in concept last year. But officially increasing the tax from 3 percent to 4 percent would mark the first commitment of public dollars for the project - and give local arts supporters reason to celebrate.

"I think it's a strong statement to the community that this will be a reality," said Peggy Brady, executive director of the Cultural Resources Commission, which is overseeing planning for the center.

County Commissioner Bob Rackleff said the center is needed to help lure not only tourists to town but also new businesses and workers. The facility could host popular-music performances, traveling Broadway shows, local theater, ballet and symphonies.

"The most important argument I have for it is it will help our economic development," Rackleff said.

In June, the city of Tallahassee and county commissioners struck a deal over the city's plan to redevelop downtown. As part of the deal, county commissioners agreed to raise the tax to help fund the performing-arts center. The vote was unanimous.

The tax generates about $2 million a year, with proceeds going to the Tourist Development Council for advertising and promotion of Leon County. The money is spent to attract tourists, business meetings and sporting events to town.

The proposed 1-percent increase is expected to generate about $675,000 a year, said Alan Rosenzweig, the county's budget director. If the proceeds are used to support a bond issue, some $7 million to $12 million could be raised for the center.

But that won't pay for the whole facility, Brady said. Money also will come from grants, foundations, businesses and individual contributions.

"We want everyone to own a piece of it," she said.

Some have spoken out in the past against using the tax for a bricks-and-mortar project. Thomas Waits, a member of the Tourist Development Council, said he doesn't think it's fair to tax one industry - hotels and motels - to pay for a project that will benefit the whole community.

But he said he will probably reluctantly support the measure. Waits is president and chief executive officer of the Florida Hotel & Motel Association.

"If they decide they're going to do that," he said, "we'll do our best to still fulfill our job."

The Cultural Resources Commission has been meeting with local tourism officials to garner support for the project. Brady said the center will help the agency accomplish its mission by bringing in visitors.

The city's 2003 cultural plan called for construction of a performing-arts center, and initial planning for it is under way with help from New York consulting firms Fisher-Dachs Associates and AMS Planning and Research. The firms met in a two-day workshop in August with local leaders and artists to discuss basic concepts for the facility.

Still unknown is where the center will be, how big it will be, what it will look like and how much it will cost. A committee is working on how the facility will operate and sustain itself financially. Initial recommendations could come in six to nine months, Brady said.