News from Aug. 28, 2003 issue


City tweaks tourism tax
Trying to make its proposed restaurant and motel tax more palatable, the Marion City Council has agreed to exonerate those who collect it from the city's net profit tax.

For about a month, the council has discussed a plan to implement a three-percent sales tax on motels and restaurants inside the city limits. The official language of the proposed ordinance has been toyed with and tweaked over the last few days to fit what city leaders envision as a means to fund tourism and marketing programs by taxing a segment that's not already overburdened.

The latest provision added to the proposal will help make the new tax easier to swallow, says Mayor Mickey Alexander. Excusing restaurants and motels from the net profits tax is an incentive for merchants to support the plan.

"It's more or less a trade off," Alexander said. "We're certainly not anti-business. We know there is going to be some extra paperwork to collect the tax so we wanted to give those business owners something in exchange."

The mayor said he is not sure exactly how much revenue the city would lose by exonerating net profit taxes for motels and restaurants, but he is certain that the proposed sales tax would far exceed the amount taken in on net profits.

The money raised from the tax would go toward tourism and recreation. A tourism committee will decide how part of the revenue is spent and the city will use some of it to fund local attractions like the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum.

Bill Jones, who owns and operates the 88 Dip in Marion, has come full circle in regard to the proposed sales tax.

"When I first heard about it, I was kind of irritated," Jones said, "but if it's going to do us some good, then I think it's fine."

Marion City Administrator Garry Barber said that studies by the Kentucky League of Cities show that in every city that has implemented a motel and restaurant tax, businesses have reported an increase in food and lodging receipts. He said the reason is simple, the tax money is used to promote the area, bringing in more people who spend more on rooms and meals.

Jones says he wants to know more about where the tax money will go.

"Right now they haven't really given us a clue as to how the money will be spent to promote the area. I don't know if it will be used for an advertising campaign or just how they're going to do it."

Collecting the tax is perhaps the most cumbersome issue. Jones said his cash register is now programmed to add six percent on sales for the state tax.

"I'm sure we can program it to add another three percent," he said. "It's just the hassle of having to collect it and then pay it every quarter. We already have the Kentucky sales tax and the unemployment tax. It seems like we're just loaded with taxes.

"It's going to be a hassle, but it's no big problem if it's going to help. I hope we can bring in more tourism."

Jack Easley, who sells sandwiches at Marion Pit Barbecue on Main Street, says that excusing the net profit tax may help more restaurateurs embrace the plan.

"But it's still going to hurt our local people," he said. "That's who's going to be paying most of it because we don't have that many tourists come in here.

"If they will just spend the money wisely. That's the main thing," Easley said.

Like many cities, Marion taxes the year-end profits of its licensed businesses. Each business pays a $15 license fee, plus three-quarters of one percent on net profits. If the city council approves the three-percent sales tax, then motels and restaurants who collect the tax and turn that money over to the city will not have to pay the net profit tax.

The council is expected to vote on the tax during its Sept. 15 meeting.


Police make arrest in pill caper
A Sturgis man is free on $5,000 bond after being arrested in the "pill scam" that came to light last week.

Union County authorities picked up David Jason Corbett, 30, of 190 Chestnut Street in Sturgis on a Crittenden County warrant late last week. Marion police say that a description of the suspect by a victim led to the arrest.

Corbett was brought to Crittenden County Jail Saturday and posted bond Monday. He will be arraigned Sept. 3 on a charge of theft of a controlled substance. Police allege that on Aug. 8, Corbett talked his way into a Marion residence by telling the homeowner that he was a healthcare professional. Police say that Corbett is a former employee of Crittenden Health Systems, but was no longer working there when the incident occurred.

"We assume that's how he got his leads or prospects," Marion Police Chief Kenneth Winn said. "Because he worked in the healthcare field, he might have known who had medication."

The criminal complaint says that Corbett asked the victim to see her prescription bottle and then took the 43 Tylenol 3 tablets in the bottle.
Winn said that there were other reports of similar incidents, but that was the only one where a theft actually occurred. Winn said police in Livingston County are investigating another similar incident.

Winn also said that Corbett was out on bond from a Henderson County burglary charge when the Aug. 8 theft allegedly occurred.
Winn says police want to know if any other local residents have been approached in a similar fashion, by a person posing as a healthcare professional. He said those people may also be victims. He asks that they should call the police department or Crittenden sheriff.