PKI to Mason: You promised to not charge ticket tax

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From the DDN

Kings Island to Mason: You promised to not charge ticket tax

By Denise G. Callahan

Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Mason city officials promised they would never tax tickets sold to the Kings Island amusement park.

Or did they?

The Mason City Council finance committee is considering starting to charge an admissions tax on tickets sold at Kings Island and also at the nearby The Beach Waterpark.

They're looking for a way to reduce the amount of income tax paid by Mason residents who work in other cities. Mason charges a 1 percent income tax and residents who work elsewhere already receive a 50 percent tax credit, but council members want to eliminate the Mason income tax for residents who pay income taxes where they work.

Making these residents happy will cost the city government $2.1 million a year, which Mason can afford without cutting services, said Vice Mayor Tom Grossmann.

At the same time, some city council members want to tax amusement park visitors, though Grossmann insists that the proposals are separate.

Regardless, talk of an admissions tax has upset Kings Island's executives, who believe they have an agreement with Mason City Council from a decade ago, when the city annexed the amusement park from Deerfield Twp.

They claim to have a 1997 letter from then-City Manager Scot Lahrmer in which he pledged the city would not start an admissions tax. And former city council members who attended the council's meeting Monday night also said they informally promised to not impose an admissions tax.

Trouble is, the city council never voted on such an agreement.

"We were assured we would not be asked to replace that revenue," said Kings Island Vice President and General Manager Greg Scheid "$2 million to us is a lot of money. We will fight it as hard as we have to."

Scheid said that a University of Cincinnati study showed that a 6 percent admissions tax at Kings Island, which attracts more than three million visitors a year, would negatively impact other businesses in the region such as hotels and restaurants by as much as 14 percent because fewer tourists would visit.

Councilman Tony Bradburn asked Scheid if any other 12 Cedar Fair amusement parks pay an admissions tax and Scheid said Cedar Point pays one in the city of Sandusky in northwest Ohio.

"Do you know there are 67 communities in the state of Ohio that have admissions taxes," Bradburn asked. "What makes you so special?"

Scheid mentioned the promise made by former Mason officials, to which Blackburn countered: "I didn't promise you anything. And I don't think there is any council that can make that promise legally binding."

Scheid said legally Bradburn was correct, but the city has a moral obligation to keep its word.

Mayor Char Pelfrey said Kings Island and executives from The Beach would be included in discussions regarding the admissions tax proposal.

City council members on Monday night planned to pass an emergency ordinance to put the income tax reduction issue on the May primary election ballot. However, a resident pointed out that, according to the city charter, the Mason City Council would have had to pass the ordinance 90 days prior to the election.

After a little scrambling and no admission that the resident was right, Grossmann amended his motion to change the election date to November. His amendment passed, but the city council rejected the motion to place the issue on the ballot failed on first reading so city council members will discuss it again at a later meeting.

[Gordon Bombay]

Hmm thats a good idea, lets tick off the one of the largest employers in the city that brings in quite a lot of business for the city. Dont they get enough from the property taxes they impose on the park already? Just think, 3 million guests per year, one dollar tax on each ticket, thats 3 million easy dollars for the city.

[Purplehaze]

Mason had no business sucking in KI like they did. kI should be its own little incorperated town.

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

This is so typical of the City of Mason (and others) that think that by raising taxes they will increase revenues. But in fact the opposite is true. They will find attendence will decrease at the park, hotels and other tourist driven industries. It is bad enough that we all must pay tribute (income taxes) to Mason but now they demand more of the share of the pie to pay for their fancy infrastructure. I have lived in Kings Mills all my life and know first hand how Mason has grown into the snob of a city that they are now. They have to be better than all the rest and have built fancy infrastructure and a huge city community center with pool and have constantly raised the taxes that people pay in order to pay for it. Now Mason wants to reduce their taxes and charge admission taxes on all guests to pay for all this. I stand by Kings Island in their attempt to block this. As a tax payer and employee of Kings Island I say enough is enough.

Mike

[TraderJake]

This desire to tax sounds as though someone on the Mason City Council wants to paint their gold toilet with porcelain.

It is unwise to bite one of the hands that feeds the city coffers. Mason already brings in enough taxes to pave their roads with gold (or bike paths, medians, and street lighting), perhaps they should examine how to fiscally spend money rather than spending so much money on services that don't necessarily need to exist. What do I know though, I only have been taxed by Mason for the last 6 years, and as a nonresident what do I see? I see a city in excess, and their excessive ways are likely not to end anytime soon.

The question they need to answer is do they really need to have this tax? Are people really asking for this removal of the income tax, or does someone on council want to keep from being taxed twice? Perhaps Mason should view the 50% credit was an incentive for residents to live and work in the city, rather than a burden.

[CoastersRZ]

Well, the article mentions a 6% admissions tax. That equates to about $2.50 per ticket that KI would be handing over to the city of Mason. Granted, the city of Mason does provide police and fire service to the park, to augment KI`s own forces. Also, the city of Mason did install street lights on Kings Drive several years back.

But, one has to wonder what would KI be getting in return if this tax was levied? Some may argue that all these tourists that are lured to the city of Mason are a reason why they have to continually upgrade their infrastructure and roads. Those who are on this side of the argument will say that by default, the tourists should help pay for these infrastructure costs.

It is not dissimiliar from the city of Cincinnati`s jock tax that they impose on visiting athletes at both the Reds and Bengals ballpark/stadium. The city of Cincinnati already has an admissions tax in place, which visitors pay when they attend Reds games, Bengals games, or even when they visit Coney Island.

As an aside, I`ve always found Coney interesting. Sutton Road is in line with the main auto gate. To the west of this line is the city of Cincinnati. To the east of this line is Anderson Township. The administration building is located within the city limits. So when I worked there, if I spent all day running the Python, which is in Anderson Township, I would still have the 2.1% city earnings tax taken out of my paycheck. Go figure.

Back to the topic at hand. I side with Kings Island. If they were given a verbal agreement, the city of Mason should honor that agreement. I mean, look how many tourists KI draws into the area, not to mention how many people it employees which contributes to their earning tax.

[Gordon Bombay]

What city is Kings Island really in? I know from the speeches at the GWL construction tour and GWL grand opening they mention the city of Mason. Like RZ said Mason provides fire and police service to the park, yet not exclusively, other fire departments and police units will respond if need be, think back to the "Beast fire scare" that was mentioned in the news last early summer, but the park has its own post office and when it first opened it claimed it self to be in the city of Kings Mills. Does Kings have its own mayor and city council? When I worked at the park Mason took taxes out of my paycheck. Being a minor I got all my state and federal taxes returned, yet not the Mason ones.

[CoastersRZ]

Kings Island is in the city of Mason. It used to be in Deerfield Township, but the city of Mason annexed them several years ago, as the article mentioned. You`re correct that originally KI stated they were in Kings Mills, Ohio. But yet on the press releases that KI issues, they state that the park is located in Kings Island, Ohio.

Yeah, it wouldn`t be uncommon for multiple fire agencies to respond to something like The Beast incident. However, I`d venture to say that Mason is likely the primary responder. An interesting note, is that often times when the paramedics have to be called to Coney, the Anderson Township Fire Department is often dispatched (even for incidents on the Cincinnati side of the park). However, other times the Cincinnati Fire Department responds.

Yeah, I too paid a lot of money to the city of Cincinnati through earnings taxes from my work at Coney, and at my co-op jobs. You can`t get refunds on the local earning taxes like you can the state and federal.

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

Kings Island is located in the City of Mason but the mailing address is Kings Island, Oh 45034 which is served from the Kings Mills Post Office. Prior to Mason taking over, all services (fire and police) were provided by Deer Field Township and Warren County. The nearest fire station is in Kings Mills (1 mile) but is served by the Mason FD which is at least 5 miles away. Mason wants to grab and steal all land in the township for the increased income tax while reducing the tax base for the township. Mason does not provide any services that could had been provided by both the township and county. They have the nerve to complain about all the increasted traffic is causing an increased strain on their infrastructure and then want to tax us to the hilt to pay for it. I say this to Mason: Stop paying millions to buy a golf course that you do not need; Don't spend millions on a skate board park that is not needed. Return to your middle income base that you used to be rather than the Beverly Hills elit snob that you have become.

Mike

[Gordon Bombay]

^Didn't you say you live in Kings Mills, why are you complaining about Mason taxes? Why do you get taxed by Mason?

Whats wrong with a golf course and park for the community?

Whats wrong with a community center and pool for the community?

Whats wrong with a skateboard park for kids?

Would you rather the kids go skate on city streets and public property and tear everything up, would you rather the kids in the community center sit at home and watch tv all day? Mason does have a lot of tax, and seems to be wanting to get more from KI, but atleast they're turning thier city into something nice with plenty of benefits for residents.

[ragerunner]

This tax is stupid and carries risk as some have already discussed. But, what I find most unprofessional is the way the councilman talked to the vice president of KI. Apparently this councilman thinks he is the governor or president to at like that. I am not sure if I was KI's vice president I would have been that polite with him.

[Gordon Bombay]

^I agree, the tax seems stupid, Mason has not presented a good case for it, and the councilman was extremely unprofessional. But let say they hike admission up 2.50, why couldnt KI just lower admission 2.50, add the tax, and it would be the same for the guests. Therefore you dont have negative publicity from raising admission. You have a park ****ed at the city, but no declining attendance.

[CoastersRZ]

Right, they could lower the admission price so that the general public perceives it as being the same cost as it was prior to the tax. However, in doing that, KI would be losing that $2.50 times how many people pay for their regular priced admission. Which would result in Kings Island, and Cedar Fair, getting about $2 million less, according to what Greg Scheid said in that article. $2 million is a lot of money to try and "take away" from Kings Island by imposing an admissions tax. Especially when you had an oral agreement that such a tax would not be imposed.

[Snake Attack!]

Well as a Mason student I have to agree with those who say that mason does spend lushishly and there are things that don't need to be spent or bought. ex. the expensive front to municiple building that really isn't used. Sadly though it seems that KI and Mason have to get along and they can't go their separate ways. Wouldn't KI be smart to team up with GWL and the Beach in issues like these?

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

^Didn't you say you live in Kings Mills, why are you complaining about Mason taxes? Why do you get taxed by Mason?

As an employee of Kings Island I must pay taxes to Mason yet does not have a say in how the money is spent; I do live in Kings Mills and see first hand how Mason has gobbled up all the township land just so they can grab the taxes from the employees. Mason has not grabed the small town of Kings Mills because there is no money for them there (yet).

Whats wrong with a golf course and park for the community?

Whats wrong with a community center and pool for the community?

Whats wrong with a skateboard park for kids?

There is nothing wrong with a gof course in Mason as long as Mason itself does not own it. They are not in the business of owning a gof course that cost them millions to buy.

Nothing wrong with a pool, that they already own but they needed a fancy building and in door pool that they convinced the tax payers that it was needed. Then they charge the tax payers hundreds of dollars for a membership to use the facility that they are paying in taxes. Their new city building is way to fancy and again tax payers are paying for it.

Again, nothing wrong with a skate park but let a private agency own and run it. As it is, it is located and built near the new water treatment plant away from the population center. Mason has spent millions for this park.

Would you rather the kids go skate on city streets and public property and tear everything up, would you rather the kids in the community center sit at home and watch tv all day? Mason does have a lot of tax, and seems to be wanting to get more from KI, but atleast they're turning thier city into something nice with plenty of benefits for residents.

Mason is a nice, safe place to live and raise a family but you do not have over tax the residents and and employees that work there. Mason does maintain their roads but you do not have to have fancy gas like lights to light the streets. Mason has one of the highest tax rates in the area and is only growning larger. Now they see a way to drain more tax dollars from the group of people that have no say in the matter except these people might just decide to stay away.

Mike

[AZ Kinda Guy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the people who were against the most recent school levy; wasn't their argument that they(Mason) needed to be more responsible with their spending?

[The Interpreter]

I will say it before Woofer does...it was Paramount Parks who ASKED Mason to annex them. And Paramount Parks should have been more careful to get a COMMITMENT not to impose an admissions tax in return. They did not do so. A verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.

[Avatar]

As always the devil is in the details!!!

First this quote by the Mayor Tom Grossmann

Making these residents happy will cost the city government $2.1 million a year, which Mason can afford without cutting services, said Vice Mayor Tom Grossmann.

Now my comments from that quote

There is no way this will cost your town 2.1 million dollars! In truth your town will take in 2.1 million dollars less due to your town no longer over charging your constituents. So instead of budgeting your town with the same tax rate that other Ohio counties have learned to do. Your town has gotten to used to that extra cash cow from over charging your tax payers. That now you would rather offend a community friendly business in your district that your town had made prior verbal agreements with, by forcing that business to take money from their customers that otherwise could go to that business in the form of sales. I could only support a tax like that if they would allow all the citizens who pay that tax an opportunity to vote for that town council. Because if they could that city council would have never proposed that idea.

Taxation with-out representation!!!

The next Quote comes from Greg Scheid

"We were assured we would not be asked to replace that revenue," said Kings Island Vice President and General Manager Greg Scheid "$2 million to us is a lot of money. We will fight it as hard as we have to."

I am grateful that somebody is fighting for us families from another forced tax on us.

So I will take Kings Island word that they will fight it as hard as they can.

[BoddaH1994]

I'd love to see Kings Island secede from Mason. Sure, it would cost the park a boatload of money in being self-sufficient, but the city of Mason would fall apart. I have read reports saying that when Kings Island opened, it basically paid for Kings Mills' School District. I'm guessing it's the same way with Mason.

[DeLorean Rider]

I once read that Kings Island pays 78% of all of the property tax that pays for Mason School Districts.

I'm not surprised, check out their high school/community center. I doubt Mason would do very well without KI.

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

While that Kings Island is in the City of Mason, the park recides in the Kings Local Schools and pays taxes to the Kings Schools. That is the one thing that Mason could not change and that is the district in which the parks belongs. Mason only recieves income taxes from the employees.

Mikw

[Gordon Bombay]

I once read that Kings Island pays 78% of all of the property tax that pays for Mason School Districts.

I'm not surprised, check out their high school/community center. I doubt Mason would do very well without KI.

Theres a lot more business in Mason besides KI though, theres a very heavy P&G presence and offices there. Sure, mason would have some trouble without KI, but theres alot besides just KI. BTW, who takes care of Kings Mills roads? Do they have their own service? I drove up tylersville through mason yesterday and the roads were great, when I hit Kings Mills to get to the cartrdige factory and surrounding area, the roads were TERRIBLE.

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

If I was Kings Island, I would tell Mason that we will not hire their policemen to patrol inside the park. KI has their own police force to watch over the parking lot and inside the park. If the park expects that tax increasse to cause a drop in attendence and revenue, then I would do whatever I could to cut costs and would start with the gravy overtime that is paid to the Mason Police.

My pastor is on the Mason City Council and I will let him know that we do not like it. I only wish the employees that pay that tax would have a say in how it is spent but we don't. I am sure that GWL did note expect an admissions tax would be considered when they made plans to build the hotel/water park complex. Heck, I would not put it past Mason that they told GWL that "...we have no plans on charging an admission/hotel tax..." (wink, wink).

Mike