Wrangling Begins Over Lodging Tax Revenues

After the Fannin County Board of Commissioners heard the first public hearing on the proposed County Park Ordinance this week and mulled over a few other minor items, the focus of the meeting moved once again to the lodging tax debate. Last month, commissioners approved an increase in the lodging tax, from three percent to five percent. That move means that January 1st, one percent of the increase will automatically go to the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce, leaving one percent in tax revenue available to promote tourism. Since the announcement of the increase, two groups have dominated the debate, each group advocating the money go to its cause. These two groups were well represented this week’s meeting.
Advocate and president of the Blue Ridge Community Theatre, Patricia Webb in her public comments asked the board to allocate the available one percent or a portion of the lodging tax to support local theater. Webb said the theater has never asked, nor used public money in the past. But now, she is requesting a portion of the tax to support community arts. In last month’s meeting, Joe Webb argued revenue used for arts and theater can be considered as a support for tourism, thus justifying his proposed use for the tax revenue.

At the other end of the rope in this tug-of-war is the fly-fishing community. Last night, President of Trout Unlimited Chapter 696 Mike Holloway represented the fly-fishing tourism community by giving a well-informed talk on the importance of fly-fishing to the economy, not only of Blue Ridge but of larger Fannin County as well. He explained that the National Fish and Wildlife Service who, along with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, controls the stocking of the Lower Toccoa River in Blue Ridge with trout was unable to get funding to do so for next season. The National Fish and Wildlife Service asked for funding from the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority), who controls the Blue Ridge portion of the Tocoaa, but it refused, Holloway said. As is it now stands, with no funding, as of October 1st this portion of the Lower Toccoa will not be stocked for the upcoming season, a big draw for fly-fishermen. Holloway stressed the dependence of Blue Ridge and Fannin County on eco-tourism in general and fly-fishing in particular. He said that 45 percent of tourists who come to Blue Ridge come for the fly-fishing. So, if the Lower Toccoa (in Blue Ridge and other parts of Fannin County) have a depleted trout supply, then the county loses significant revenue and the economy takes yet another downturn.

Last night another advocate joined the debate, pulling on the rope nearest the fly-fishermen: rental property owners. Speaking on the property owners behalf, Lynn Haber argued that the revenue from the one percent lodging tax go towards advertising. She said she’d like to see signs along Highway 515 promoting ecotourism in Blue Ridge. “People come her,” she said, “ to mountain bike, to fish, to hike in the woods, to get away from the city, to rent a beautiful cabin and make campfire memories; we need to promote this.”

At the close of the meeting, some strong cases were made for where to allocate the lodging tax revenue, with varying points of view. Although the points of view of each advocate were slightly different, a common theme ran through them all: Fannin County’s economy depends on ecotourism and, in the words of Lynn Haber, “We need to promote this.”