Nancy on the Issues
Letter Concerning the Hotel Tax Proposal
December 27, 2006
Mayor Simmons and Aberdeen City Council
60 North Parke Street
Aberdeen, MD 21001
Dear Mayor Simmons and Aberdeen City Council:
We write in response to your request to impose a hotel tax.
To fully examine this issue we need the following: a copy of the
preliminary analysis completed by Council President Hiob, the
city budget for the current and upcoming year, all contracts
with Ripken Stadium, the composition of the Stadium Management
Board, the complete list of repairs and improvements needed for
Ripken Stadium, and a list of all current tax rates and fees for
the city including their rates for each of the last 10 years.
Following are the reasons why at this point in time, we oppose
giving Aberdeen the authority to impose a Hotel Tax.
1) We are opposed to any and all new taxes. We are
committed to protecting the taxpayers in Harford County.
2) We believe a hotel tax will harm businesses in Aberdeen.
• Taxing hotels within the city limits of Aberdeen
places hotels in Aberdeen at an unfair disadvantage. The
hotels just outside the city limits would be cheaper
because a hotel tax would not be charged. The further
people stay from Aberdeen the less likely they are to
spend money within the city limits, thus hurting local
businesses.
• New taxes take money away from local businesses.
Visitors have a finite amount of money to spend. We
prefer businesses receive money, rather than the
government.
• Contrary to popular belief, this is not a
“pass-through” tax. Many companies use guest rooms for
their out-of-town clients and staff. The cost of this
tax would be forced on these local businesses – not just
visitors to the community.
3) Adding a new tax on the thousands of families who come
to Aberdeen to watch their children play at the Ripken
Stadium is unjust. Many of these families make large
financial sacrifices to come watch their children play. We
cannot in good conscience support a tax that will increase
the burden on those families.
Even though you claim the property taxes could be reduced
with the implementation of a hotel tax, you fail to commit to
lowering property taxes if this tax is created. When new taxes
are created, rarely, if ever, are other taxes reduced.
Additionally, Senator Jacobs has a hard time supporting a new
tax when the loss of over $2.5 million is seen as no big deal to
the city manager. After the citizens of Aberdeen overwhelmingly
rejected the city council’s annexation proposal, Aberdeen’s city
manager, Doug Miller, stated the loss of the $2.5 million
promised from the Wetlands Development team “doesn’t take us out
of step” in regards to the budget revenue for next year. (The
Aegis 12/15/06)
We are willing to listen to the reasons you “feel that this tax
would have no negative impact and actually would be good for
business,” as well as any other reasons you have for desiring
this new tax.
We look forward to receiving the information we have requested
and meeting with you concerning this issue.
Sincerely,
Senator Nancy Jacobs
Legislative District 34
Senator Andrew Harris
Legislative District 7
Senator Robert Hooper
Legislative District 35
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