Taxing concerns

JIM HOFFMAN, left, general manager of Cousins’ Country Inn, was among local hoteliers who opposed an increase in the transient room tax Wednesday before the Wasco County Commission. Shown here with desk clerk Danni Franklin in front of Cousins’ latest addition, Hoffman said the motel’s owners are considering adding a second motel in the area, but may think twice about locating in The Dalles as a result of taxes and fees. Kathy Ursprung photo

Business owners wary of new tax

Motel industry opposes tax; economist says it won’t hurt

     Local lodging industry representatives opposed putting a proposed 1 percent transient room tax on the November ballot at a Wasco County hearing Wednesday.
     The tax would raise between $80,000 and $100,000 annually to service debt owed on the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.
     Representatives argued the tax would negatively impact the industry’s business.
     “We’re going to lose out on revenue and the people that work for us are going to suffer,” said Jim Hoffman, general manager of Cousins’ Country Inn.
     After the meeting, Hoffman said Cousins’ is considering building another motel in the area, but the room tax coupled with the city’s transportation system development charge, which would add tens of thousands of dollars to project costs (current charge relief is only for one year), could lead the company to look elsewhere. Biggs Junction, for example, has only the state’s 1 percent transient room tax and no local tax.
     The proposed Wasco County tax increase would unfairly single out businesses that do not benefit from the Discovery Center, said Rob Miles, of the Imperial River Company in Maupin.

Council trims job service

Budget cuts reduce Council of Governments employee roster

     Several Mid-Columbia Council of Governments employees charged with helping local residents search for jobs lost theirs earlier this month, darkening job seekers’ prospects in the region as Oregon’s unemployment rate remains stuck above 10 percent.
     Hefty budget cuts forced the Council of Governments, which provides a variety of services to residents of Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman, Wasco and Wheeler counties, to eliminate seven positions.
     The organization also shut down two of its regional offices in Moro and Fossil. A Council of Governments employee had previously commuted to Moro once a week. In Fossil, the two employees who manned the office there lost their jobs.

Airport master submitted for final approval

     A master plan for the Columbia Gorge Airport heads to the Federal Aviation Administration after approval Monday from The Dalles City Council.
     Airport Co-Manager Chuck Covert presented a new, revised master plan to the Council. It includes details on both land and air operations at the airport that will be used in future development projects.
     The comprehensive document was paid for by a grant from the FAA. It cost $200,000 and took 11 months to complete.
     Covert said the document is in accordance with FAA rules and regulations
“It’s a guide for us to use in developing the airport that the FAA agrees to work on with us,” Covert said. “The FAA designates funds for airports but they have a hard time giving the funding if it’s not in our master plan.”