Opinion

On the double

TBO.com
Published: January 16, 2013

At last: A tax increase even Republicans can get behind, and Pasco County's got it. Last week, the GOP-dominated county commission broached the idea of increasing the Pasco tourism development tax by 100 percent. Before people start grabbing pitchforks and torches and storming the county government center, if implemented, the change would take the county's tax on hotel and motel rooms and other short-term rental accommodations from 2 percent to 4 percent.

During a commission tourist tax discussion last week, Commissioner Pat Mulieri declared the 2 percent levy so low as to be "ridiculous" and added that it "doesn't affect our people."

Long-time readers of this space will recall that we adopted a "what-the-heck" attitude toward the tourist tax when it was proposed in 1990 in hopes it would help create a Pasco tourism industry. Over the years, however, we grew skeptical because the money from the tourist tax kept rolling in, but no one seemed to have a good idea on how to spend the portion of the revenue that is supposed to go to tourism-related construction.

Now, however, the county has pledged to spend that money on a youth sports complex to be developed in the Wiregrass Ranch area of south-central Pasco. Proponents hope youth sports tournaments will attract people and their dollars to the county.

As taxes go, the Pasco tourist levy appears to be fairly harmless. If the county raises it, however, it probably should wait a couple more decades before boosting it again.