HUBBARD Trustees discuss tax on motel rooms

The owner of Truck World Motor Inn doesn't think highly of the anticipated bed tax.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HUBBARD -- Township trustees plan to impose a 3-percent bed tax on motel rooms the first of the year.
"We're not in any hurry," said Trustee Fred Hanley. "We've made the judgment to proceed."
Although there is only one motel in the township, Hanley said he expects a hotel/motel complex to be developed in the area of Interstate 80 and Routes 7/62.
Truck World Motor Inn at I-80 is the only motel in the township, Hanley explained.
The tax doesn't sit well with Ed Yasechko Sr., owner of the Truck World complex, including the 29-room inn.
Yasechko said Wednesday that catering to the trucking industry is very competitive and he already pays the county bed tax.
"This is a tough day-to-day business," Yasechko said, noting he competes with other facilities in Pennsylvania that don't have a similar tax.
Although an $8.5 million Flying J Travel Plaza is under construction in the area, it doesn't include a motel.
Hanley, however, pointed out Wednesday that a survey shows that Flying J plazas generate a second motel at 60 percent of its sites.
"We'll see a major motel coming in our direction," he predicted.
Taxes
Currently the county collects a 3-percent tax on each room. Revenue from the surcharge supports the Trumbull County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The township has already received an opinion from the county prosecutor's office that the township can impose the tax.
Hanley said it hasn't been determined how much the township will eventually collect from the tax.
According to the county treasurer's office, Truck World Inn paid the county $4,704 in bed tax proceeds in 2002.
The money, he explained, will be used to help with industrial and commercial development and to increase police services.
Specifically, the funds will be directed to expand water and sewer lines and roads. Added police protection is needed, Hanley said, because of increased traffic around the interstate.
In opposing the tax, Yasechko said he believes his company is being singled out by the township to help competition locate in the township.
Yasechko said the inn has been the only motel in the area for 30 years and he already pays $80,000 annually in property tax without any government subsidy.
yovich@vindy.com