SB 61 / Chamber Supports
House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jeff Thompson (R-Lizton) announced last week that Senate Bill 61 would not be considered by the committee. The bill would allow a community to consider a petition to create a tourism improvement district (TID) and levy assessments from within the district to support local tourism.
Until recently, there was little opposition to the proposal. The state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) raised concerns over the bill, stating that the organization had surveyed its members and found little support for the idea. The main objection was the level of support required to pursue a TID. The bill requires 65% of businesses within the district as well as the owners of 65% of the assessed value in the district to support the petition. The NFIB argued that this threshold was not sufficient to protect the remaining business owners who may be opposed to paying an assessment or who may not benefit from increased tourism.
The Chamber disagrees with this characterization of the bill, however. The 65% threshold is improved from the introduced version of the bill, which required only 50% of the total number of businesses within the proposed district to support the petition. It’s fair to say that not all businesses may directly benefit from the investments in the district. However, the legislation requires the assessments be levied proportional to the benefits a business might receive from the investments. This provision would protect an insurance agency or auto mechanic that receives little or no benefit from local tourism from contributing to the activities in the district.
This is just the second time this legislation has been introduced, and the Chamber looks forward to working during the interim to help resolve these conflicts and build a coalition to support this concept in the next legislative session.
