Special Series: "When Pigs Fly" This is a collection of articles on the facts, problems and issues other communities are having with their current or planned Conference/Convention Centers. - Feelings mixed among Snowbirds on bed-tax hike, who should pay

City pushes bed-tax idea forward...

Troy Espe - The News Herald - Sunday, October 15, 1997

Panama City commissioners on Tuesday took a step toward levying a bed tax within city limits.  Commissioners voted 3-2 to research a new tax on hotel rooms in Panama City. The tax revenue, estimated between $300,000 to $400,000 annually, could be used to beautify tourist corridors or promote the arts, some commissioners suggested.

"Even though we get the economic boost of tourism, we need to find ways to pay for the wear and tear on our city," Commissioner Kathryn Hanline said. "We need to beautify the city so we don't get that `Redneck Riviera' rep on our city." Before the city could levy the tax, the Bay County Commission would have to approve creating a Tourist Development Council within Panama City, and voters would have to pass a referendum approving the levy, said Mayor Gerry Clemons.  The mayor wanted feedback from commissioners before taking those steps.

"We have done a very limited amount of research on this," he said.

Commissioners Bob Barnard and John E. Pilcher III voted against the bed tax.

"I have a problem with any new taxation," Barnard said. "The buck has to stop somewhere." And Pilcher said the city isn't broke and a bed tax isn't free money.

"I think we need to find ways to decrease taxes instead of increase them," he said. "I believe it costs everybody something. To go out and put these taxes on just because we can, we don't need that." The Bay County Tourist Development Council adds a 3 percent tax to charges for hotel and motel rooms and campsites along Panama City Beach. Revenues from that tax - nearly $3 million so far this year - are earmarked for tourism promotion and beach renourishment.

Clemons said the same idea could work in Panama City. Clemons would like to see bed taxes used to beautify tourist corridors such as 23rd Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Some of the money could promote the arts, he said. "Our city is not as pretty as it could be," he said. "A lot of cities we would like to emulate already have bed taxes."

Panama City is the second municipality in recent weeks to seize upon the idea of collecting a bed tax. Mexico Beach, in eastern Bay County, is pursuing the creation of its own bed tax district. Voters there will decide that issue next month.

In other action at the Panama City Commission's meeting Tuesday:

Commissioner Jonathan Wilson tabled a discussion about buying a community center on East Ninth Court.

The Commission awarded a $193,359 contract to low bidder Gulf Asphalt Contractors Inc. to pave about 2,000 feet of Beach Drive. A grant will cover the costs.

Commissioners agreed to pay $7,880 in architecture fees for six design changes made to the Panama City Marina project.

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