Post by High Priestess on May 27, 2016 19:03:03 GMT
Deb shared on Mendocino Hosts in Jan 2015
www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-101065
What happens with our TOT tax $ ?
It's that time of the month again - time to calculate TOT tax payments and get it in the mail by tomorrow. I was recently wondering about the fate of these dollars once they reach the County. I thought it would be nice make a little sign/blurb letting guests know about all the good things this annoying tax does...
First I sent an email to a friend who is a board member of the MCLA, Mendocino County Lodging Association. Her reply:
"10% of the TOT goes to the County General Fund. I'm not really sure what
it's used for, but perhaps the County website has that information. The
additional 1% goes to marketing the county for tourism.
Since both taxes are really to benefit the citizens and businesses of
Mendocino County, there probably isn't a whole lot for a tourist to get
excited about. That said, off the top of my head I can give you two good
things to say to them. One, the 1% tourist assessment helped to get the
Stornetta Lands designated as a National Monument. Two, Mendocino
County's 11% is considerably lower than other counties."
Not very much to get excited about so I turned to google and discovered there is indeed another local political controversy. Turns out the tax $s we send in each month are the center of a heated local drama.
Here's a summary from the ultra opinionated AVA (http://theava.com/archives/36200):
THE MENDOCINO COUNTY scam-a-rama known as Visit Mendocino County
(VMC) may be coming to an end. The way the scam works is that Mendo
County lodging businesses agree to tax themselves 1% of room rents (paid
for by the customer) which is collected by the County, which then
transfers the money to the Mendocino County Lodging Association (MCLA)
along with a 50% match out of County funds. MCLA then contracts with VMC
to promote the lodging/tourism industry.
ANOTHER JOBS PROGAM is called the Mendocino County Promotional
Alliance (MCPA). It is also part of the subsidized tourism cabal. No one
really knows which part of the three-headed VMC-MCLA-MCPA beast is
really in charge of which purse strings. But all three groups compete to
install as many of their friends as possible into do-nothing jobs. They
then travel all over the state and nation on the public dime attending
wine and cheese shindigs. They claim their jaunts and a few ads in
Sunset Magazine somehow benefits Mendocino County.
BUT THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN TENSION among the players in this somewhat
forced and oddly configured promotional ménage-a-trois. Two years ago an
effort to double the 1% fee (and the County match) was defeated by
dissident lodging owners who raised numerous questions about a lack of
transparency and the way VMC was operated. Just like the ghouls who run
“publicly supported community radio” station KZYX, the honchos living
high on the VMC hog don’t think anyone should be able to know how much
salary they choose to pay themselves. VMC is trying again to increase
the fees collected (and the County match) and also cut MCLA out of the
decision making loop. But a recent change in leadership on the MCLA
Board threatens to upset the apple cart.
THE NEW MCLA BOARD recently voted to sever the contract with VMC
effective October 15. The thought of being cut off from the public
trough has sent shock waves through the ranks of the VMC staff. It is
too early to tell just how this particular drama will play out, but it
promises to instantly renew the very bitter and very public infighting
that MCLA and MCPA were famous for a dozen or so years ago. Their
differences were temporarily pushed into the background based on a
tenuous agreement of how to share the spoils ($300,000 or more of public
money thrown their way every year by the Board of Supes). But that
agreement is fast unraveling. Will MCPA be able to vote MCLA off the
island? Will the Board of Supes double the amount of public money handed
over to a private outfit to promote their personal business interests?
Will the Supes demand greater transparency on how the money is spent? Or
will the entire fiasco finally collapse of its own weight and
self-interested infighting?
Here are a few links with more dirty details:
theava.com/archives/36722
theava.com/archives/37230
bit.ly/1IlUHSf
bit.ly/1DA4Fst
MCLA website: www.mcla.info/
VMC Website: www.visitmendocino.com/
www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-101065
What happens with our TOT tax $ ?
It's that time of the month again - time to calculate TOT tax payments and get it in the mail by tomorrow. I was recently wondering about the fate of these dollars once they reach the County. I thought it would be nice make a little sign/blurb letting guests know about all the good things this annoying tax does...
First I sent an email to a friend who is a board member of the MCLA, Mendocino County Lodging Association. Her reply:
"10% of the TOT goes to the County General Fund. I'm not really sure what
it's used for, but perhaps the County website has that information. The
additional 1% goes to marketing the county for tourism.
Since both taxes are really to benefit the citizens and businesses of
Mendocino County, there probably isn't a whole lot for a tourist to get
excited about. That said, off the top of my head I can give you two good
things to say to them. One, the 1% tourist assessment helped to get the
Stornetta Lands designated as a National Monument. Two, Mendocino
County's 11% is considerably lower than other counties."
Not very much to get excited about so I turned to google and discovered there is indeed another local political controversy. Turns out the tax $s we send in each month are the center of a heated local drama.
Here's a summary from the ultra opinionated AVA (http://theava.com/archives/36200):
THE MENDOCINO COUNTY scam-a-rama known as Visit Mendocino County
(VMC) may be coming to an end. The way the scam works is that Mendo
County lodging businesses agree to tax themselves 1% of room rents (paid
for by the customer) which is collected by the County, which then
transfers the money to the Mendocino County Lodging Association (MCLA)
along with a 50% match out of County funds. MCLA then contracts with VMC
to promote the lodging/tourism industry.
ANOTHER JOBS PROGAM is called the Mendocino County Promotional
Alliance (MCPA). It is also part of the subsidized tourism cabal. No one
really knows which part of the three-headed VMC-MCLA-MCPA beast is
really in charge of which purse strings. But all three groups compete to
install as many of their friends as possible into do-nothing jobs. They
then travel all over the state and nation on the public dime attending
wine and cheese shindigs. They claim their jaunts and a few ads in
Sunset Magazine somehow benefits Mendocino County.
BUT THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN TENSION among the players in this somewhat
forced and oddly configured promotional ménage-a-trois. Two years ago an
effort to double the 1% fee (and the County match) was defeated by
dissident lodging owners who raised numerous questions about a lack of
transparency and the way VMC was operated. Just like the ghouls who run
“publicly supported community radio” station KZYX, the honchos living
high on the VMC hog don’t think anyone should be able to know how much
salary they choose to pay themselves. VMC is trying again to increase
the fees collected (and the County match) and also cut MCLA out of the
decision making loop. But a recent change in leadership on the MCLA
Board threatens to upset the apple cart.
THE NEW MCLA BOARD recently voted to sever the contract with VMC
effective October 15. The thought of being cut off from the public
trough has sent shock waves through the ranks of the VMC staff. It is
too early to tell just how this particular drama will play out, but it
promises to instantly renew the very bitter and very public infighting
that MCLA and MCPA were famous for a dozen or so years ago. Their
differences were temporarily pushed into the background based on a
tenuous agreement of how to share the spoils ($300,000 or more of public
money thrown their way every year by the Board of Supes). But that
agreement is fast unraveling. Will MCPA be able to vote MCLA off the
island? Will the Board of Supes double the amount of public money handed
over to a private outfit to promote their personal business interests?
Will the Supes demand greater transparency on how the money is spent? Or
will the entire fiasco finally collapse of its own weight and
self-interested infighting?
Here are a few links with more dirty details:
theava.com/archives/36722
theava.com/archives/37230
bit.ly/1IlUHSf
bit.ly/1DA4Fst
MCLA website: www.mcla.info/
VMC Website: www.visitmendocino.com/