Tourism, tax funding in spotlight again

A bill that would require counties to tell the state how they spend tax money on tourism facilities and activities passed out of a Senate committee Thursday, but not before some lawmakers pushed for a study about whether public facilities are competing with private-sector restaurants and concert venues.

HB40 requires counties to report to the state on their use of tourism, recreation, cultural and convention facilities tax funds, known as the TRCC tax assessed at restaurants. It also calls for the counties to report on the use of the TRCC and transient room tax, or TRT or hotel room tax, spending by certain categories.

The TRT report would detail spending for recreation, tourism, film production and conventions, plus the building and operation of tourism facilities. For TRCC, counties would need to list spending on financing tourism promotion or developing and operating tourism-related facilities.

Together, the two taxes amount to about $60 million annually, according to Rep. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, the bill's sponsor and co-chairman of the Tourism Task Force that studied the matter.

The TRT already has an audit provision. The bill would add that requirement to the TRCC. "This bill kind of marries those two together," providing a uniform reporting system, Adams said

"If we enable a tax to be put in place, we surely have a responsibility to make sure we understand how that tax is being spent," he said.

But before the bill was passed out of the Senate Workforce Services and Community and Economic Development Committee, a potential hot-button issue cropped up again. A few committee members wanted to discuss how some private activities at publicly funded facilities affect business at private-sector companies. At the task force's final meeting in November, several people questioned whether weddings, receptions, meetings and other activities at public buildings and grounds — such as convention centers, recreation centers, golf courses and libraries — that are funded by tax dollars suck business away from private-sector establishments.

While not mentioned Thursday, the task force voted in November to have another task force formed to study that issue. Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, is sponsoring SB74, which calls for the creation of a Privatization of Government Functions Task Force that would study, among other things, placing restrictions on government competition with private business and providing for equity, especially in taxes and regulation, for private businesses that compete with government to provide services. That bill has advanced through the Senate and will be considered by the House.