“Its not coming out of my pocket. Its coming out of the tourist who expect to have to pay their fair share for their safety in this County,” Hile said.
By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Tucker County Commission received praise for their new 2% amusement fee during a Special Session of the Commission December 4th. The meeting was held to hear from members of the business community and public on the issue. Tucker County Commission President Mike Rosenau opened the meeting with a statement on the history of the issues surrounding the need for EMS funding and the difficulties the Commission has faced at the State and local levels in acquiring funding. Rosenau also read the State Code that allowed the implementation of the fee.
Rosenau read some letters the Commission had received recently in support of the fee. “You have done all you have said you would do for the citizens of Tucker County,” one resident wrote. “They are affected from the newborn to the elderly. From the rich to the not so rich. You have gone the extra mile to ensure that all of Tucker County has Emergency Medical Protection. Thank you again and again. I know this is not an easy task you took and countless hours and time have gone into find a way to solve one of Tucker County’s largest problems. All of this was done with the love and care for all of Tucker County. Thank you.”
Rosenau also said the Commission had received letters from those outside the Tucker County community. “My wife and I live in a close suburb of Pittsburgh,” a nonresident wrote. “We enjoy vacationing in Tucker County and have always felt welcome. I have followed your issues in providing emergency services over the last several years. Like many of your one plus million visitors, we are accustomed to having police, fire and EMS services at our beck and call. In my community response time for all three are under three minutes. I expect that most of your visitors from urban areas have similar first responder time and have no idea the problems you have. Your actions to solve a serious problem is a tribute to your political courage, common sense and example of how local government should work. By the way, I was president of our council for two years and have some idea of the difficulties you face. Finally, we can’t imagine that a 2% user fee can have any real adverse effect on tourism business. If I can afford a hundred dollar ticket for a ski lift, I can certainly afford a two dollar life insurance policy. Good job and thank you.”
According to Rosenau, several letters had been received from those outside of Tucker County. “I read you two of the several that we got in our office,” Rosenau said. “People from out of state, I don’t know where they hear this stuff from, but thanking us for improving or the potential for improving EMS services in our County.”
Thomas resident James Nelson was the first to speak in support of the fee. Nelson said that the fee did not go far enough in its scope and proposed an additional 5% fee to go towards the residents of Tucker County. “This fee that you put on is not nearly enough,” Nelson said. “All you need to do is get on the internet and find out what these other State Parks and things are charging out of the State of West Virginia. It should be a 5% to go to the local people of Tucker County because of this Tourism that is coming in here.”
Nelson said that traffic is one of the biggest problems with Tourism in Tucker County. “Number one is you can’t get home every night,” Nelson said. “They’re parked in Davis. You got a Mayor in Davis that won’t do anything. He’s in Virginia someplace. You got a Mayor sitting here in Thomas. He won’t enforce things that are going on in Thomas. I was Mayor in Thomas for almost eight years.”
Nelson also said that Tourism has impacted the residents of Tucker County financially. Nelson had a lot of support from others at the meeting regarding his comments. “This Tourism that is coming into Tucker County has just about ruined the local people,” Nelson said. “You got the Tourism tax on food, you got the Tourism tax on gasoline. How is these people with a fixed income making it? You got people coming in here, million dollar people, go to Canaan Valley, nothing, a $100 is nothing for them to get a lift ticker or what ever else.”
Resident Stan Dracovich said he supported the measure, as well and said that there was no way to put a price on a human life. “I’m wondering how you can value someone’s life for a couple of dollars,” Dracovich said. “That just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Dracovich said he had heard of several calls to Timberline in which the individuals refused to go to the hospital. These calls, according to Dracovich were on days when only one ambulance was in service in the County. “I’ve heard in the last short while, that the ambulance has been called up to Timberline four times in two days, there was only one crew on, they were called up there and the guy wouldn’t go to the hospital,” Dracovich said. “So that is a wasted call that they can’t collect nothing for. Not only that, what if somebody down here, a child, got hit by a car or something? There was only one unit. So what are you going to do…its just not right. I commend you guys for doing this.”
Longtime resident Joy Showalter thanked the Commission for the fee. “I would like to thank you Commissioners for putting that fee on,” Showater said. “I agree 100% with it and I want you all to know that I have been a resident of Tucker County ever since 1960 and since I’ve been here they have absolutely took Tucker County over and I am so glad you Commissioners are standing up for the residents and taking care of us and I’d like to thank you and appreciate you.”
Local short term rental owner Jeremy Hile said he supports the fee and cannot understand how any of his fellow business owners could oppose it. “I would like to thank you coming up with this,” Hile said. “As you all know, if I disagree with something I will be here giving you all a headache. I’m not here to do that tonight. This works. I have a rental cabin here in the County. People that come to this County are not going to not come because of a 2% fee. It is a great fix to a problem that has been a long time problem in this County…I cannot understand where the opposition is to this.”
Hile said he feels blessed to be able to travel and expects to pay fees while on the road. “I am blessed to be able to do some traveling with my family and when we travel, we expect that we are going to pay some fees,” Hile said. “I mean if you can’t afford it, don’t do it, but that’s not going to happen in this County. People that are going to come ski, are going to come kayak, or whatever, are going to still come. Two percent is not even going to make people – especially when we put it on (there).”
Hile said the fee is going to be placed along with the other taxes on the receipts, invoices and bills. Hile said the fee is a matter of safety while in the County. “She’s going to put it on there exactly what it is,” Hile said. “You got your 6% tax, 6% hotel/motel tax and your 2% ambulance fee. People are going to look at that and be happy. I have a way to be taken care of when I’m in this County. I cannot understand the opposition. Its not coming out of my pocket. Its coming out of the tourist who expect to have to pay their fair share for their safety in this County.”
Hile said a lack of ambulance service would have a far greater negative affect on tourism than a 2% fee. Hile also vowed to support the Commission in any way he could on the matter. “I would be more reluctant to come to this County for lack of safety then to pay a 2% fee to know that when I call I’m going to get an ambulance,” Hile said. “So thank you, guys . I agree with this. I just can’t understand the opposition that I’ve heard for any of the businesses. You’re going to tack it on, its that simple. I’m going to pay it if I go up and ski, I’m fine with that. If I go to Morgantown, there’s a City Use tax that we pay above and beyond 6%, every time we go to every city around us, except for Tucker County. What are we here griping about? I can’t understand it. But thank you, thank you for hearing me. I will support you in any way I can.”
Owner of the Ski Barn, Whit Carmenetti said that a similar fee was put into place successfully in Pocahontas County. “We had a very similar situation that was imposed by the Commission of Pocahontas County called the Resort District Fee,” Carmenetti said. “It was used for more than just an ambulance. It was used to subsidize the old fire station at Snowshoe that is now a paid service. It has worked out well. I am pretty neutral on the political side of things here. As a business, I am pretty interested to see how it goes through and it processes and how it will be collected. Just interested in more fact finding and more information. Thank you guys for having this meeting tonight.”
Rosenau said he had spoken to Pocahontas County regarding their fee and its impact. “I talked to the President of the Commission in Pocahontas County,” Rosenau said. “I talked about lift ticket prices, I talked about what their hotel/motel fund coming in was for them and Pocahontas County, Snowshoe, the lift ticket is average more expensive then it is in Timberline.”
According to Rosenau, the fee had no negative affect on business in Pocahontas County. “But the revenue generated from their hotel/motel tax the percentage that goes to their County Commission, we have, in our County hotel/motel tax goes a half million dollars,” Rosenau said. “In Pocahontas County they are over two million. So what that tells me, even with the fee they have in Pocahontas County, the increased prices of lift tickets in Pocahontas County, they still have more tourism. So it did not affect the tourism in Pocahontas County. Its proven.”
However, not all comments during the meeting were positive on the matter. For more on the 2% fee, see our other companion pieces on the negative comments and Mike Rosenau’s address to the crowd in this issue.
