05/11/2008

Associated Press

To the displeasure of many hotel and motel owners, the city council here has voted to hike the transient room tax by 1 percentage point to subsidize the Florence Events Center, which has run in the red since it opened in 1994.

Lane County is likely to pass a similar increase.

Hotel and motel owners say the past three months have been their worst in years, with high gas prices, bad weather and a recession.

Now isn't the time to make it worse, they argued.

"It's choking our industry supporting the events center," said Mat Kirbe, who owns a motel just outside of the city. "It's never made money, and now you're going to tax us some more. We're reducing our rates as we speak."

the center was never envisioned as a moneymaker, and it hasn't been.

But Florence officials and those who found the donations to build it thought it necessary for a place for conferences, concerts and festivals too large for any place then available.

Florence agreed with the county to set aside part of Florence's share of transient room taxes to pay debt service for the bonds sold to finance the project. After the city refinanced the debt, Lane County commissioners agreed to use up to $40,000 a year to help pay the center's operating costs.

Even with that, the center came up $30,000 short last year, thanks largely to expenses that have risen to $348,000 annually, or to about $100,000 more than they were in 2002 and 2003.

Volunteers scrambled for donations and the director cut the marketing budget in response.

The city tax increase, effective July 1, would increase the room tax to 9 percent and is expected to bring in an extra $40,000 a year.

Maurice Souza, who owns the Blue Heron Bed and Breakfast, said he doesn't see much business generated by the center and asked why hotel owners should have to subsidize a community asset.

"Most of the people coming to my place are coming to visit Florence, ride the dunes," Souza said. "I don't think we should continue to support something that's not making money."

Since the opening of an expanded Three Rivers Casino last year, four events that went to the center last year went the to casino, mayor Phil Brubaker said.

Milt Pepitone spoke against the increase, saying it is for entertainment purposes, not the needs of the entire community.

"We've got a police department that needs a police dog. We're not funding that," Pepitone said. "Every street in Florence need repairs. We should not use our tax dollars for entertainment. If there was a huge demand for it, you wouldn't be $40,000 in the hole right now. If the golf course came to you and said, `We're running short on money,' you wouldn't give it to them."

But supporters said they never ask what the tax rate is when booking a hotel and said the events center is worth a subsidy.

Events at the center over the past five years are directly responsible for 10,000 room nights, generating more than $1.6 million, said Hal Weiner, president of Friends of the Florence Events Center, which raised $10,000 to help with last year's deficit and has pledged to do so again this year.

"The events center will never be self-supporting," said Ann Rule, a longtime volunteer and fundraiser for the project. "The Hult Center (in Eugene) isn't self-supporting. The PAC (Performing Arts Center) in Newport isn't self-supporting. But the events center is busy every day.

"There are people who need to have a little culture and entertainment, a little something to look forward to."

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com