News: Kings Island fights city's admission tax proposal

Posted at 4:29 AM EST (0929 GMT)

Feb. 14th, 2007 -- Only a decade ago, former City Manager, Scot Lahrmer, pledged on behalf of the city of Mason, to never issue an admissions tax on Kings Island and annexed the amusement park from Deerfield Township.

Trouble is, the city council never voted on such an agreement.

Now, Kings Island's executives are furious because the Mason City Council has had a change of heart. The Council's finance committee is considering starting a tax on tickets sold at Kings Island and also at the nearby The Beach Waterpark.

Kings Island Vice President and General Manager Greg Scheid, says the city has a moral obligation to keep its word.

"We were assured we would not be asked to replace that revenue," said Scheid.

Scheid also pointed out a University of Cincinnati study showing that a 6 percent admissions tax at Kings Island, which attracts more than three million visitors a year, would negatively impact other businesses in the region such as hotels and restaurants by as much as 14 percent because fewer tourists would visit.

Current member to the council, Tony Bradburn, retorted with the mention of one of the other twelve Cedar Fair amusement parks that pays an admissions tax: Cedar Point of Sandusky in northwest Ohio.

"Do you know there are 67 communities in the state of Ohio that have admissions taxes," Bradburn asked. "What makes you so special?"

Interestingly, the Mason City Council is currently searching for a way to reduce the amount of income tax paid by Mason residents who work in other cities. Mason charges a 1 percent income tax and residents who work elsewhere already receive a 50 percent tax credit, but council members want to eliminate the Mason income tax for residents who pay income taxes where they work.

Making these residents happy will cost the city government $2 million a year, which coincidently is the same amount the city stands to gain by charging the admission tax. Vice Mayor Tom Grossmann insists that the two proposals are unrelated.

"$2 million to us is a lot of money," says Greg Scheid. "We will fight it as hard as we have to."

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