View Full Version : Foshee backing down on hotel tax demands



Patrick
09-01-2004, 12:34 PM
Well, as many of you know, the city is wanting to pas an increase in hotel-motel tax to pay for improvements to livestock facilities at State Fair Park. The only person that has had issues with this is councilman, Jerry Foshee. He has repeatedly said that he thinks some of the money should go to city parks.
While I agree that we need to put more money in our city parks, I think right now it is very crucual that we revamp State Fair Park....and at this point, even with the money from the hotel-motel tax we will just have the money to revamp the livestock facilities and not other facilities or thhe grounds. So pulling money out of this to pay for city parks would only set us further back at the State Fair Grounds.

Anyways, looks like Foshee is backing down on his demands, and will favor an increase in the tax to pay for livestock improvements and construction of a few new barns and a livestock arena at the Fairgrounds.

I personally think that midway through MAPS for Kids, we need to consider putting together MAPS III, which would pay for the rest of the needed improvements at State Fair Park, could improve city parks, and include many other projects.

If we wait for MAPS for Kids to expire, before proposing MAPS III, we may have a harder time getting MAPS III passed. Why? Because after MAPS for Kids is finished, sales taxes will go back down to original levels, and proposing a MAPS III would be viewed as an increase in taxes, something most conservative Oklahomans don't favor. If we propose MAPS III while the MAPS for Kids penny sales tax is still in place, we can say that this proposal willnot raise your taxes, but keep them at the current rate. You wouldn't believe how much this would help MAPS III get passed.........if you don't make it look like a tax increase, people are more willing to vote for it.

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"Councilman supports raising tax for fair park


By Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Councilman Jerry Foshee won't continue to insist a proposed increase in the hotel room tax include funding for city parks.
In the past few months, Foshee stood as the lone dissenting voice at City Hall as State Fair Park advocates prepared to ask the city council to schedule an election that would raise the tax from 2 percent to 5.5 percent.

With a proposal for a Dec. 14 election introduced at Tuesday's council meeting, Foshee said he didn't want to hurt efforts to improve the fair park's barns and arenas.

"I want the increase that is being proposed today," Foshee said. "I've been a supporter of the horse shows since they came here. These visitors spend money that causes our economy to grow."

In exchange for dropping his demand, Foshee said Mayor Mick Cornett, absent Tuesday, had agreed to form a task force to identify other ways to reopen or rebuild pools closed due to budget cuts.

The council unanimously agreed to set a Sept. 14 final hearing on scheduling a city election, with every council member indicating they will support the tax hike. Endorsements were issued by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Greater Oklahoma City Metro Hotel Association.

Jeff Penner, the association's executive director, said it wasn't an easy decision for hoteliers to support increasing a tax on their own industry.

"Why would we want to do that?" Penner asked. "We have to. As an industry, we have to stay proactive. We have to step up to the plate and make sure we remain the horse show capital of the world."

Penner said horse show participants like Oklahoma City for its history and location.

"But they're also telling us we're falling behind," Penner said. "Our facilities are aging, and other cities are aggressively marketing to them to take away our business."

Of the 3.5 percent increase, 3 percent would pay for fair park improvements and the remaining 0.5 percent would go to the Convention and Visitors Bureau to support events at the fair park and elsewhere, fair board Chairman Clayton I. Bennett said.

The tax, if passed by voters, is expected to support $50 million in bonds to pay for the improvements -- which isn't enough to pay for a park-wide overhaul, Bennett said.

"It's not all we need, but it's a terrific start," Bennett said. "We hope to complement it with private investment."

Oklahoma State Fair General Manager Tim O'Toole said horse shows have a $111 million annual impact on the local economy. "

floater
09-01-2004, 02:11 PM
I believe in funding city parks, but the hotel/motel tax is the wrong way to do it. You don't fund one use (parks) with a funding mechanism against an entirely separate use group (visitors). The beneficiaries of a tax should be the ones to pay for it.

It's a good start, but maybe it's an opportunity to re-evaluate the use of Fair Park. It's primarily used for visiting horseshows and the annual fair. Why not dream up ways for more year-round use for residents?

swake
09-01-2004, 04:05 PM
I’m not very familiar with OKC’s fairgrounds, I’ve been there a few times but forgive me, maybe this is a facilities issue, but WHY isn’t the OKC fairgrounds used more?

Tulsa’s Expo square is used year round. There are different shows and events every weekend there. I was there for something couple of weekends ago and that one day there was a beer festival, a pow wow, a horse show, the flea market and a trade show all at the same time. I know OKC doesn’t have any version of the Expo building, but most of Tulsa’s events aren’t even in that building as for most events it is just too big.

okcpulse
09-01-2004, 11:06 PM
swake, Oklahoma City's fairgrounds are used year-round, and for many events other than the state fair and horse shows. Something does happen there every weekend. However, Oklahoma City has not allocated the funding that Tulsa has for the Tulsa fairgrounds. Also consider that Bell's Amusement Park and Big Splash water park are located right next to the fairgrounds, as well as a horse track and Drillers Stadium.

Not only have the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds facilities aged, but All-Sports Stadium has been closed for four years and has fallen into disrepair. State Fair Speedway has aged profoundly. And unlike Tulsa, our theme park and water park are both located in different parts of Oklahoma City. Most of the weekly events at the fairgrounds are in the T & T building, or Kitchens of America building.

State Fair Arena recieved some revamping from the MAPS project, but is mostly used for Disney on Ice, championship horse shows, Ringling Barnum & Bailey Circus. The arena once sed to host Blazers Hockey on nights the former Oklahoma City Cavalry basketball team had the Myriad Arena.

Patrick
09-01-2004, 11:35 PM
It seems like we do have a lot of events at the OKC fairgrounds, but at the same time we have events spread around at other venues around town, i.e., the Ford Center, Loyd Noble, Edmond, Cowboy Museum meeting hall, etc.
Also, we don't have anything to really compare to the Expo Building. Instead, our Fairgrounds has more smaller individual buildings like the International Building, Made in Oklahoma Building, Garden Building, Modern Living Building, Transportation Building, Centennial Building (formerly the Kitchens of America Building), the Arts and Crafts Building, and the State Fair Arena. Take "Affair of the Heart" for example....whereas you guys have the whole show in the Expo building, we have it split up in different buildings.

But back to the topic, we do have events at state fair park all the time. Gun Shows, Car shows, RV shows, Garden shows, Affair of the Heart, other Craft shows, flea markets, antique shows, huge garage sells, library book sale, etc.

Check out the events page at: http://www.okstatefairpark.com/soe/bymonth.asp

Here was the schedule just for August:
EVENTS FOR AUGUST 2004
Date Day Event Building Time
August 1 Sunday Greater Oklahoma Hunter Jumper Horse Show Arena/Barns 8am - 6pm
August 1 Sunday OKC Kennel Club Matches & Challenge Made in Oklahoma 9am - 6pm
August 1 Sunday OKC Flea Market at Fair Park Fair Park Grounds 6am - 8pm
August 6 Friday Speedway Auto Races Grandstand 7:30pm - 10:30pm
August 7 Saturday RK Gun & Knife Show Travel & Transportation 9am - 5pm
August 7 Saturday Buchanans Antiques & Collectibles Modern Living 9am - 5pm
August 7 Saturday Last Chance at the World Horse Show Barns 8am - 10pm
August 8 Sunday Last Chance at the World Horse Show Barns 8am - 10pm
August 8 Sunday Buchanans Antiques & Collectibles Modern Living 11am - 5pm
August 8 Sunday RK Gun & Knife Show Travel & Transportation 9am - 4pm
August 13 Friday Speedway Auto Races Grandstand 7:30pm - 10:30pm
August 13 Friday OK Hunting & Outdoor Show Travel & Transportation/Carriage Hall 10am - 9pm
August 13 Friday 2004 Oklahoma County Free Fair Centennial Building & Barns 8am - 10pm
August 13 Friday Summer Shootout Barrel Racing Arena/Barns 8am - Midnight
August 14 Saturday Summer Shootout Barrel Racing Arena/Barns 8am - Midnight
August 14 Saturday 2004 Oklahoma County Free Fair Centennial Building & Barns 8am - 10pm
August 14 Saturday Annual Toy & Doll Show Modern Living 9am - 4pm
August 14 Saturday OK Junior Livestock Committee Premium Auction Barns 6pm - 10pm
August 14 Saturday OK Hunting & Outdoor Show Travel & Transportation/Carriage Hall 10am - 9pm
August 15 Sunday OK Hunting & Outdoor Show Travel & Transportation/Carriage Hall 10am - 5pm
August 15 Sunday Motorcycle Swap Meet Modern Living 10am - 5pm
August 15 Sunday Summer Shootout Barrel Racing Arena/Barns 8am - 6pm
August 20 Friday Speedway Auto Races Grandstand 7:30pm - 10:30pm
August 21 Saturday March of Dimes Bikers for Babies MC Event Carriage Hall 6am - Midnight
August 26 Thursday Harold's Clothing Sale (members only event) Made in Oklahoma 5pm - 8pm
August 27 Friday Harold's Clothing Sale Made in Oklahoma 10am - 6pm
August 27 Friday Children's Clothing and Toy Consignment Centennial Building 9am - 8pm
August 27 Friday News 9 OKC Women's Show Travel & Transportation 10am - 6pm
August 27 Friday Speedway Auto Races Grandstand 7:30pm - 10:30pm
August 28 Saturday News 9 OKC Women's Show Travel & Transportation 10am - 6pm
August 28 Saturday Children's Clothing and Toy Consignment Centennial Building 9am - 6 pm
August 28 Saturday Harold's Clothing Sale Made in Oklahoma 10am - 6pm
August 28 Saturday Exotic Bird and Pet Expo Hobbies, Arts & Crafts 10am - 5pm
August 28 Saturday Oklahoma Arabian Horse Show Barns 9am - 11pm
August 29 Sunday Oklahoma Arabian Horse Show Barns 9am - 4pm
August 29 Sunday Harold's Clothing Sale Made in Oklahoma Noon - 5pm
August 29 Sunday Children's Clothing and Toy Consignment Centennial Building Noon - 4pm
August 29 Sunday News 9 OKC Women's Show Travel & Transportation 11am - 5pm
August 30 Monday 2004 Team Pen America Championship Arena/Barns 8am - 10pm
August 31 Tuesday 2004 Team Pen America Championship Arena/Barns 8am - 10pm

Patrick
09-01-2004, 11:37 PM
Oh, one more thing...I agree with OKC Pulse...sure we do have a lot of events at State Fair Park, but it may not seem as busy because we don't have the parks there, we don't have our ball team there any longer, and our horse track isn't there.

Fortunately, for Tulsa, you guys have really improved your state fair grounds. Ours in contrast is deteriorating. We really need to revamp our speedway/grandstand and all of the facilities at State Fair Park. Right now, much of the park looks like an eyesore from
I-44.

Patrick
09-01-2004, 11:39 PM
Here's a map of State Fair Park:

http://www.oklahomastatefair.com/images/map_cf_2004WEB.jpg

floater
09-02-2004, 07:07 AM
Wow. I had no idea there were some many events - daily! I'd been to the Harold's sale and heard about the book sale, but not really the others.

But what I imagine is a place used not just for hosting events, but a place where people can spend time. Maybe if we truly upgraded the public areas with great attention to landscape design, plus lawns, benches, boardwalk, state factoid markers and educational exhibits, and picnic tables and invite vendors on the weekends, we can have a facility where city residents can spend time. Maybe the state, city, and state fair organization can pool resources and materials together to make a fun place to learn about the state or the history of the state fair -- one of the ten best in the country.

We can also fill the park with institutions and/or special uses. How about riding stables? How about a state-of-the-art radio control racing platform? What about a driving range? Let's put some play in its use.

Patrick
09-02-2004, 01:51 PM
floater, you're ideas sound great. Reminds me of Hemisfair Park, in downtown San Antonio, once the site of the World's Fair. The fair area has been converted into a huge garden with water exhibits, park benches, stone trails, plush gardens, etc.