Newsome wrong on lodging tax

Submitted by Scott Weber
Posted 10/24/24

Dear editor:

As usual, Sandy Newsome takes facts out of context and distorts to her liberal advantage. This is why she will no longer represent the good people of Park County. Good riddance. I …

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Newsome wrong on lodging tax

Posted

Dear editor:

As usual, Sandy Newsome takes facts out of context and distorts to her liberal advantage. This is why she will no longer represent the good people of Park County. Good riddance. I had stated publicly in meetings concerning the lodging tax, on social media and in a letter to the editor that never have I seen any promotion of Wyoming’s hunting and shooting activities in their crummy videos or print the tourism council had generated. I’m still waiting.

Incorrectly, Newsome as usual, has tried to tie the proposed Wyoming State Shooting Complex to lodging tax. Not true. The $10 million to build the shooting complex came from millions of dollars from the Wyoming Fish & Game Department which is hunting/fishing/trapping license fees, the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming General Fund.

She dodges my main points about the 7% lodging tax:

1. The high rate on each hotel room actually stifles the use of hotel rooms by traveling businessmen, parents traveling to watch their student athletes, Wyoming citizens who tour the state, hunters, athletes, etc.

2. The “products” produced by the lodging tax and the tourism council are at best, LAUGHABLE. The videos are so poor that NONE could possibly stimulate a person to drive to Cody, Wyoming or any other place in our fair state. They are produced by non-Wyomingites and it shows. In fact, one pitiful effort was filmed in a Canadian coffee shop! Pitiful. Pathetic. Waste of money.

3. When you get a room in Jacksonholefornia there is a 6-inch list of TAXES on the bottom lines of the already bloated room rates! Many Wyoming folks and tourists avoid this liberal town at all costs.

4. The state of Wyoming is FLUSH with money. There is nearly $3 billion in surplus money. No further taxes are needed. Lodging tax as well as property tax must be reduced. The tourist bunch needs to request yearly funding just like the rest of the government entities. Why bilk the tourist? Why bilk businessmen such as I who travel the state constantly?

Absolute NO on the renewal of the lodging tax. NOT needed. NOT being used correctly. Some of the organizations Newsome names above are very poorly attended and do their own advertising. No amount of promotion is going to save them.

A couple of other points: Newsome barely attended any of the shooting committee meetings and has not been seen for months. Again: Yet another reason we’re glad she’s “moved on” from representing our state.

One more point: Newsome has ZERO experience in the shooting sports and it shows. I have told the committee over and over that we do NOT need to “promote” the shooting complex via print ads or video ads because the various shooting disciples we wish to schedule in for tournaments always promote to their memberships when and where the shoots are. So to think that ads from the lodging tax funds will populate the shooting complex is absurd. No other ranges in the USA depend on generic ads for their tournaments.

It should be noted that I moved to Wyoming in 1974, which is 14 years before Newsome moved to Wyoming from Colorado. I’ll be sooo glad that come Jan. 1, 2025 we will have proper representation for the Park County people. Tax reduction and straight talk will be the order of the day.

Scott Weber

Wapiti

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