Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Make haste slowly

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Only one thing's for certain when it comes to the idea of collecting higher local option sales taxes in the resort cities of Sun Valley, Ketchum and Hailey to support air service: Very little is certain.

November's general election is 12 short weeks away. To get a tax measure on the ballot, the cities will have to put together a joint powers group to manage the details of subsidizing airlines that agree to maintain or expand service to the area as well as draft and approve ballot questions to put before voters.

It sounds simple, but it's not.

There are enough details involved that it will be no surprise if the questions don't appear on November's ballots. And, perhaps they shouldn't.

Hailey officials have already expressed reservations about increasing the local sales tax on restaurants because of the perception that its existing tax falls primarily on residents as opposed to visitors. However, no data exists to verify that perception. City officials may find it difficult to square the lack of data with not extending a higher tax to restaurants.

All of the cities will have to reconcile differing notions of how many members each city should have on a joint powers board.

Each city also will have to decide if ballot language will specify that tax collections may be spent only on subsidizing airlines or more broadly.

Biggest of all the challenges will be to educate voters about the need for the tax, why the tax may make sense and why the tax might ultimately help and not hurt the already injured economy. That's not a small hurdle given that businesses and voters have their pocketbooks under lock and key in these tough times.

The Idaho attorney general's opinion said that while the door to the tax is open, the cities should proceed with caution. So supporters must move carefully.

It would be worse to lose an election because a detail was overlooked or voters didn't understand the measure than to miss the first available election date.

Before the original resort cities' local-option sales taxes ever saw a ballot, voters had three years to read about legislative lobbying efforts plus months of front-row seats in local meetings and public hearings as Ketchum and Sun Valley discussed how the taxes would be used.

If it becomes a choice between doing it fast and doing it right, organizers of the new tax should give themselves time to do it right and aim for a spring vote.

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