From today's Op Ed section in the New River Valley Current:
Let's get straight about the meals tax discussion. The unfair competition argument is a red herring. No normal consumer travels to campus, hunts for an expensive parking spot and fights student crowds to avoid a few cents on a dining hall meal purchase. Even if the university could collect taxes, the collections are estimated to be about $40,000 annually. This pales in comparison to the voluntary $250,000 annual franchise fee paid to the town by VT Electric Services.
The facts are facts. There's far more money being dumped into Montgomery County, and Town of Blacksburg coffers, by the university then just a meals tax. And all of the New River Valley (and the region) will be benefit by having the new arts complex in our backyard. We use their campus, we put a drain on their resources, and then we nickel and dime them on a meals. Tax.
Whether Larry Hincker is providing an official response by Virginia Tech to the Play Fair Tech campaign or not, it's an excellent commentary outlining the REAL financial benefits the university brings to our region.
Thanks Jeremy, I must have failed to click through on the first post.
Anyway, I was talking about the “Facts” and the calculus that is used to measure the claimed benefit.
Some of the facts that need to be accounted for in the equation that I feel are frequently overlooked are:
1. VT accounts for a full 20% of the acreage of Blacksburg but is un-taxable because it is state owned. If it were say – Google, Xerox or DuPont, they would. We’d still have the economic contribution of business providing services to those giants, and the property tax revenue too. Blacksburg bears this burden for the rest of the state, but it’s not without a value. No other Virginia institution occupies as much of its home municipality as Tech does of Blacksburg. Not even close.
2. VT holds the dining dollars of seminar attendees hostage by binding them to the id’s they hand out to those attendees and only allowing them to be redeemed at university owned facilities; Keeping potential customers to Blacksburg restaurants on-campus instead.
3. They claim VT significantly funds the Blacksburg Transit System, citizens pay 50 cents to ride for the last 10 years; True, but- For the last year that a financial report is available – 2009 – the total adjusted operating budget for the Blacksburg Transit was $5,013,036. The remainder of the funding was obtained by the Blacksburg Town Staff. VT’s contribution was less than half – $2,133,625, and amount equal to 42.561 % of that budget. Meanwhile the Blacksburg Transits 2008 ridership statistics show that VT passengers accounted for 94% of total ridership.
4. They claim -V T Police routinely assist Blacksburg Police, and vice versa; – True, and in the areas that immediately surrounds campus the overlap of patrols of both PD’s increase the likelihood of random mutual assistance by ether PD. In the neighborhoods one block further away we have a different story. The 18-25 year old age group comprises 69% of physical arrests made by the Blacksburg PD. The Blacksburg PD receives no contribution From VT and had an annual operating budget in 2008/2009 of $6,854,179.00. Based on arrests alone, 18 to 25 year olds accounted for $4,729,383.51 of the budget paid by the Citizens and Town of Blacksburg. *Source: Sgt Joe Davis BBPD Records. Nationwide this age group represents approximately 8% of the total population** US Census.
5.The Way I read the figures reported in the last business plan for the Inn at Virginia Tech, Any other business would be collecting about $320,000.00 for the town in Lodging taxes – minus what ever portion is legitimately tax exempt, like state business. I’m in the process of requesting that amount.
The only reason to call the fairness issue a “Red Herring” is because it is true and Larry Hincker cannot make a justification that anyone would accept.
Look were all proud to be Hokies, I’d like to stay proud. But before accepting those “facts” as the gospel, we should have all the evidence
of course I’m posting comments! Nothing on this blog is kept from being published, unless it’s inflammatory. Living Room language here – if you wouldn’t say it in front of your grandmother, keep it off here. Other than that, comment away!
Are you posting comments?