County Levies $1 Million Fee on Recreation, Airbnbs
Plus, Timberline fires up its snow guns as blizzard takes aim at Canaan Valley
The County Commission voted to impose a 2 percent fee on recreation and entertainment activities in Tucker County, sparking anger and alarm among some area business owners and leaders who said they were blindsided by the proposal.
All three County Commissioners supported the fee, which will take effect in January.
County Commission President Michael Rosenau said in a telephone interview that he estimates the new fee will generate $400,000 annually. However, when pressed on that figure he added it was a “conservative” estimate. “I hope we get $1 million,” he said.
County Commissioner Fred Davis estimated the fee would generate $700,000 to $1 million annually. Several area business leaders said the fee will generate at least $1 million annually.
Rosenau repeatedly stated that the new funding source is a “fee,” not a “tax.”
The fee will apply to “all recreational and amusement activities,” and the sale or rental of items related to those activities, including:
Skiing and snowboarding
Short-term rentals such as Airbnbs
Water sports
Bicycles and UTV rentals
Guided hunting and fishing
Golfing, climbing, horseback riding, and skeet shooting
Admission to music events and other performing arts.
Nonprofits are exempt from the fee.
Click the button below to read the ordinance:
The proceeds of the fee will go to the Tucker County EMS Fund. However, the County Commission may take up to 8 percent of the fees collected for “administration.”
Blindsided
Area business leaders said they were blindsided by the proposal, which the County Commission approved at its November 13 meeting. The meeting wasn’t posted on the county’s website, nor did the fee ordinance come up at prior meetings. The agenda wasn’t posted online.
Donna Patrick, a partner at Best of Canaan realty, said she didn’t learn about the fee until after the commission approved it.
“Our first thought was, how rude. How irresponsible not to talk to the businesspeople who it’s going to affect the most,” Patrick said. “How cowardly, how sneaky, how disrespectful not to come and talk to the companies that do tourism seven days a week.”
Amy Barb of Best of Canaan realty added that the fee is unfair because it targets certain businesses instead of sharing the burden equally among everyone in the county who might someday need ambulance service.
“We absolutely agree that the EMS needs more money,” Barb said. “It needs to be funded. But everyone in the county needs to pay their fair share.”
Barb added that the timing of the fee will impose substantial headaches for businesses.
“Expecting businesses to add on an additional 2 percent fee to the rates they have already published for the new year will result in the 2 percent fee coming out of pockets of the local businesses and not ‘passed on’ as the commission is stating,” Barb said. “To date, the commission has yet to reach out to local businesses to make them aware of the ordinance or to answer any questions.”
“Everything we did was legal”
When asked why the commission didn’t consult local businesses before approving the fee, Rosenau said the meeting agenda was posted in advance at the courthouse in Parsons, and that the commission followed the law.
“Everything we did was legal,” Rosenau said. “My business is to keep this county safe the best that we can without raising taxes through the roof.”
Rosenau said the commission has been trying for more than three decades, including working with the state legislature, to find a reliable stream of funding for emergency medical services in the county.
Commissioner Tim Knotts said the county has been looking into the fee for about a month. “We found out we could do it ourselves, without the state, so we did it,” Knotts said. “It’s the fairest way that it can be done.”
All three County Commissioners said the fee is essential because the county’s EMS is on the verge of insolvency. The county currently has only one ambulance crew available at all times, with a second crew available part-time.
The commissioners said the new fee will allow the county to fully staff two ambulance crews around the clock, perhaps one of them located in Canaan Valley, which would mean faster response times at the county’s three ski areas.
“That 2 percent doesn’t add up to anything.”
— County Commissioner Fred Davis
Jessica Waldo, executive director of the Tucker County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she heard about the proposal the day before the vote. She said her organization’s board is studying the fee ordinance and did not yet have a position on it.
Steve Leyh, executive director of the Tucker County Development Authority, said his organization received no advance knowledge of the proposal.
“It came on pretty fast”
Commissioner Davis, who was re-elected on November 5, said locals want tourists to support ambulance services. He added that locals will also pay the fee, noting that he has family members who golf and ski.
Davis said the fee will have little impact on whether people choose to visit Tucker County. “It’s no money at all,” he said. “That 2 percent doesn’t add up to anything.”
In addition to being a member of the County Commission, Davis is a non-voting board member of the Tucker County Convention and Visitors Bureau. He acknowledged that he did not give that organization a heads-up about the fee proposal.
When asked why the commission didn’t give more notice to local businesses, Davis said, “It came on pretty fast. We weren’t sure where it’s going.”
Impact on Timberline Mountain
Timberline Mountain General Manager Tom Price said he scrambled to attend the meeting after learning the night before that the fee ordinance would be on the agenda.
“I’m most upset about the fact that our County Commission has really never spent any time here getting to know our business, and they have instituted this fee without coming to talk to us at all, or bringing us into the process at all,” Price said.
He disputed the claim that the fee will have little impact, especially since value is one of Timberline’s primary pitches to customers. “It is important to us to keep skiing accessible to as many people as possible,” Price said. “Two percent will make a difference with some people. There’s a breaking point for everybody.”
Price said Timberline Mountain has spent $25 million on capital improvements and staff, and hasn’t made a profit yet. “Over the past five years we’ve put every dollar back into this ski area,” he said.
The new fee is an obstacle to further investments at Timberline Mountain, Price said. “It will slow progress here,” he said.
Price added, “When small businesses do well, communities do well, and this fee is a fee on small businesses. It’s not a fee on tourism.”
Davis Mayor Al Tomson said he supported the fee. “Current revenues do not support the staffing of two EMS locations,” he said in a statement to Country Roads News. “Our 7,000 residents have only partially been able to provide funding for the EMS, while on any given week, there are close to 20,000 visitors to Tucker County. The 2 percent tax on recreational activities is an attempt by the County Commissioners to seek a fairer financial contribution that mostly will be paid by non-residents. This is not necessarily a perfect solution, but it is a good effort to solve a long-standing problem.”
Standing firm
The County Commission has scheduled a meeting at 6 p.m. December 4 at the courthouse to hear concerns about the new fee. However, all three commissioners stated they have no intentions of backtracking on it.
The fee will not apply to municipalities that choose to provide their own ambulance service. However, Rosenau noted that it’s highly unlikely that any will do so because of the cost.
Ed Fulton, a Thomas-based developer who owns four short-term rental units, said he believes the fee is a fair way to address a serious problem. He noted that wait times of more than an hour for ambulance service are common, which can be life-threatening.
“For me, I don’t see 2 percent hurting me or my clientele,” Fulton said. “The ambulance service is drastically needed.”
More News
Storm Expected This Weekend; Start of Skiing in Sight
A powerful storm is forecast to hit the region, with 10 to 15 inches of snow expected, beginning Thursday afternoon.
Despite the snowfall, Timberline Mountain won’t open this weekend, General Manager Tom Price said. The ground is still warm, Price noted. And the forecast calls for wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour during the storm, followed by a warming trend beginning Sunday.
However, Price added that Timberline will fire up the snow guns this weekend to help build a base in preparation for opening as soon as possible.
“It’s going to be an impressive snowstorm and everyone should go see Chip,” Price said, referring to Chip Chase, the owner of the White Grass cross-country ski center.
And White Grass says it will be ready, with its website noting that “the snowy forecast has us all wound up.”
Using the numbers from my AirDNA analytics subscription, the 'fees' on STR alone would surpass $400k annually.
We own property in Canaan Valley and also annually rent in Timberline. We have no objection to the 2% fee and think it is a smart and fair way to address a serious deficiency in EMS coverage. Letting involved businesses know prior to the vote would have been nice but the necessary outcome would have been the same.