Air Base Cuts Strengthen Case for Bed Tax Increase, Port Authority Says

Thursday, March 08, 2012

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Western Reserve Port Authority continues to press its case for a proposed 2% increase in Mahoning County's bed tax, arguing in a news release issued this afternoon that recently announced cuts at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station make funding Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport an even greater priority.

The port authority's chairman, Scott Lynn, also said that not approving an increase could place the air base's future in jeopardy.

Mahoning County commissioners tabled a vote Feb. 29 on the proposed 2% increase in the county tax on hotel and motel occupancy. Revenue generated by the tax would go to the Western Reserve Port Authority, specifically to fund the regional airport, which the port authority oversees. Mahoning and Trumbull counties both provide funding to the port authority and the airport, located in Vienna Township and where the air base is located, through the bed tax, and Trumbull County already put in place a 2% increase at the authority's request.

At a Feb. 28 press event, leaders of the Mahoning County Lodging Association said increasing the bed tax 2% would make it the highest bed tax in Ohio at 14.75%, they said, and higher than the bed taxes in Columbus and New York City. Columbus charges 12.75%, New York City 14.5%.

Members of the Port Authority board believe that the increased revenue the 2% tax would generate is more critical now than before, given the recent announcement that the air base will lose 97 part-time and 33 full-time positions in fiscal year 2013 as part of a $487 billion cut in the defense budget.

“We’re afraid that these cutbacks may just be the tip of the iceberg,” said Scott Lynn, chairman of the port authority board. “The Defense Department’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC, will continue to assess which bases to maintain and which to close altogether.” Community support for aviation activities is a key consideration in selecting air bases to retain, and by not providing the authority that additional revenue, he warned, Mahoning commissioners may be jeopardizing the future of the air base. The airport is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the runways used by the huge military’s C-130s and other aircraft of Air Force’s 910^th Airlift Wing, receiving no money from the Department of Defense for this purpose.

If the air base is to remain at the regional airport, Lynn continued, then a funding mechanism must be in place that allows the port authority to implement strategies that will help ensure its future. “Trumbull County has done its part. Now it’s time for Mahoning County to do the same,” Lynn asserted.

In the past, the county’s general fund has underwritten Mahoning County’s contribution to the port authority in the amount of $100,000 annually. “That money comes out of the pockets of Mahoning County residents,” said Rose Ann DeLeón, Port Authority director. “Bed taxes are paid by visitors. Why not seek funds to grow the county from visitors instead of off the backs of our residents?”

Local hotel and motel operators argue that an increase in the bed tax will drive away business, but Lynn contends facts don’t support that stance. As evidence, he pointed to an increase in occupancy rates in Trumbull County despite commissioners there increasing the bed tax there.

“Studies, such as one published by Cornell University in 2011, have shown that a bed tax has little or no impact on occupancy rates or tourism,” Lynn said. The new tax would add $2 to the price of a $100 hotel or motel bill, and few rooms in Mahoning County approach that room cost, he noted.