Rental car taxing idea to help fund the gap

[fanfish]

The issue here is the infamous funding gap. If this were resolved we would have a stadium by now. At the latest count it stood at around 80 to 100 million dollars.

 

I don't see any side coming up with the money. Mr. Burgess (Miami-Dade County manager) has often stated that this stalemate needs to be resolved with an infusion of cash from alternative sources, and he mentioned a tax on rental cars or a 1/2 penny sales tax. Everybody and their grandmother believes that a sales tax will not be approved by the public. However a tax on rental cars can pass specially if it set up correctly to avoid significant opposition.

 

If a formula could be devised to assure the rental car companies that they will not suffer significant loses during a limited taxing period, they may not oppose the issue very strongly, thus almost assuring its passage.

I am not an expert in these matters, but the money collected with the tax could also be used to offset some profit loss ( say.... up to 70%) the rental car companies could experience. I personally don't think that they would suffer economically since as a traveler to other cities, I pay the hotel and rental car taxes without even noticing them.

 

Someone on this site must know much more that I do about these kinds of deals. I would like to hear your opinions about the idea of offsetting losses to the car companies using the tax itself.

[rferry]

Absolutly. Although there are certainly some that don't want to bite the hand that feeds them (tourism). But definetly alternative sources of funding must be explored.

[fyatuk]

Absolutly. Although there are certainly some that don't want to bite the hand that feeds them (tourism). But definetly alternative sources of funding must be explored.

 

 

I can tell you from experience as long as its not an exorbitant amount, no one will care. The AT&T center tax is like 3.5% on hotel/motel and like 5.7% on car rentals or some such (some of the highest in the nation). After a one year drop, visitors and rentals picked up and haven't stopped increasing.

 

I think people would notice it less in Miami than they would here in SA.

 

Although there is resistance to extending the tax for possibly another 3 decades to pay for an MLB stadium...

 

Tourists go where they want to go, and a couple % is not going to change their minds. A large % will, but not a small one.

[PBMarlin]

Since the car-rental tax will be applied across the board it would have no effect on profits and be passed along to the consumers. I don't really see how it would affect sales as anyone visiting and needing a car would get one regardless of whether another $1 or so per day were added.