TRUMBULL COUNTY Commissioners raise lodging tax to 4 percent

Mahoning County has earmarked 2 percent of its lodging tax for the airport.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull commissioners have raised the county's lodging tax from 2.5 percent to 4 percent, with 2 percent going to the Western Reserve Port Authority.
"It's a good thing for the airport," said Commissioner Joseph J. Angelo. "The airport is the No. 1 priority for me, and we want to make sure it's operating."
The remaining 2 percent will go to the Trumbull County Convention and Visitors Bureau. That's a 0.5 percent drop from what the bureau has been getting in recent years. The tax has been the same amount since 1980.
"They told us they could live with a 2 percent budget," Angelo said, referring to comments from a bureau board member in August.
The dedicated funding will allow airport officials to make plans rather than worrying about funding from week to week, he said.
Steve Bowser, airport director, said the move was expected. The amount that the airport will receive is in line with what it's been getting from each county's general fund, between $250,000 and $300,000.
"Really, the only difference is that the commissioners don't have to use the general fund," Bowser said.
Earlier this year, Mahoning commissioners earmarked 2 percent of that county's tax to the airport, leaving their convention and visitors bureau with 1 percent for its operating costs.
Lodging tax regulation
The designations follow a recent change in state law that allows some counties to increase the lodging tax up to 2 percent for airport revenue.
Mahoning commissioners had proposed merging the two counties' convention and visitors bureaus, but Trumbull commissioners -- as well as both counties' bureaus -- balked at the idea.
Teresa Kirkland, interim director of the Trumbull bureau, was surprised to hear of the change. She said board members had asked to be notified of any meetings where the lodging tax would be discussed so they could attend.
"We're willing to help fund the airport," Kirkland said. "We know it's a vital asset to our community."
For 2003, the bureau requested a $323,000 budget and received $250,000 from commissioners, Kirkland said. The budget hearing for the bureau is set for Jan. 5.