SedonaEye.com columnist Eddie S. Maddock
Sedona AZ – At a Special Sedona City Council Meeting, 3:00 Wednesday afternoon on January 11, 2017, after three long years of a contentious destination marketing agreement with the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, the City will again revisit the issue. We can only hope the negotiations will prove to be less controversial, fairer, and, in turn, result in acceptable transparency which will dismiss suspicion and mistrust of City Hall dealings. That might very well have been the case had the original commitment for Requests for Proposals (RFPs) as well as certified outside audits been upheld as proposed during the initial negotiations. Ignoring both valid concerns was a disservice to everyone.
Five options will be discussed at this meeting as follows:
Option 1: Move forward with the negotiations of a new contract with the Chamber of Commerce.
Option 2: Issue an RFP for tourism promotion services.
Option 3: Create a stand-alone destination marketing organization (DMO) without ties to the Chamber of Commerce.
Option 4: Create a City Department to handle tourism promotion.
Option 5: Issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a travel industry consultancy to assess the current structure, funding relationships, etc. and provide recommendations to the city.
Pros and cons of each option will be discussed at length, such as concerns RFPs will include bids from for-profit agencies. That brings up several questions. Without an official outside audit from a qualified source, how do they know the Chamber has not been making a profit? How many employees have they hired? What has been the cost of improvement to its own facilities, etc? And what is the source of funding for those operating expenses?
And will the City acknowledge the Chamber currently offers its own RFPs for specific services, realistically reducing it to a mere middle-agency, acting on behalf of the City of Sedona?
And how do they justify the extended branding of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce that has occurred within the past three years? What has been the source of that promotional funding for the Chamber instead of the City?
By creating a stand-alone destination marketing organization, the City could avoid real or perceived conflicts between tourism promotion services and the various other functions of the Chamber of Commerce. Although they specify… it is unclear how local and regional partners would react… why should that concern the City? Should their focus at long last be redirected to the residents of incorporated Sedona? They are the people who created the City in the first place, clearly, and with the knowledge it attracted tourists.
Sure, a stand-alone destination marketing organization would result in the re-creation of an already established and successful local agency. However the extent of success of the present local agency has never been undisputedly proven. The source of increased revenue after the great recession coupled with a reduction in gasoline prices has never factually been factored into the increased tourism and resulting upswing in revenue. Nor has it been determined to what extent advertising monies have merely resulted in excessive daytripping, which the City’s infrastructure clearly cannot handle.
As for the suggestion for Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a travel industry consultancy to assess and monitor the current structure, would that be nothing more than a babysitter for the contract with the Chamber of Commerce? Should the City have been serving that function for the past three years?
It has frequently been said the City could not afford to operate their stand-alone department. And how would they know? With a Chamber of Commerce now providing funding for USFS trail maintenance, contributing money back to the City for their traffic study, and other generous but questionably frivolous expenditures, most recently to propose purchasing property on behalf of the City with what appears to be leftover funds from the bed tax rebate, how can they make that determination without a precise and reliable audit from an authentic source? They cannot. Is there any reasonable explanation why the City should not take responsibility for allocating the bed tax revenue – all of it – including over and above destination marketing?
And the perfect opportunity to establish a genuine Sedona Visitors Center has been ignored by not including such a service at the Western Gateway. How long will this City tolerate discrimination of their own legitimate licensed, tax collecting businesses within City Limits unless they are forced to be members of what clearly is a regional Chamber of Commerce? And the practice of paid referrals is common, but should the City be involved by financing the activity with public funds and further discriminating against in-city businesses?
Molly Spangler recently hired by the city of Sedona AZ as its Economic Development Director.
With the recent hiring of a professional, Molly Spangler, to serve as Economic Development Director, there is really no need to burden our busy Chamber of Commerce with more additional duties besides servicing its members, which is the purpose of its non-profit organization.
Since when was the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau deemed the “Destination Marketing & Management Organization in Sedona for 65 years?” Up until just a few years ago was it not the Oak Creek Canyon Sedona Chamber of Commerce, then changed to Sedona Chamber of Commerce, and most recently “& Tourism Bureau” was tacked on? This elaborate extension of creating yet another illusion that simply does not exist is pretty much over the top. Wouldn’t you agree? Dumb question.
There is already a campaign in motion to “Make America Great Again.” How about a local endeavor to “Make Sedona Respectable Again”? Meet and greet our visitors with an authentic Sedona Visitors Center and related advertising?
Don’t we deserve it like other places?
Flagstaff (AZ) and Park City (UT) are but two examples that offer proof they survive very well without financial support to their respective Chambers of Commerce.
Read www.SedonaEye.com for daily news and interactive views!
Steve Segner is lying again. By state law only .5% of the City’s 3.5% bed tax collections must be used for tourism, and the .5% doesn’t have to go to the Chamber. The City’s 3% bed tax in existence before the 1990 law was passed is not required to be used for tourism.
See state statute ARS 9-500.06. Hospitality industry; discrimination prohibited; use of tax proceeds; exemption; definitions
nothing is reasonable folks Wastewater debt = $22,620,000 69% Total Outstanding City debt!
source Sedona City Budget FY 2017-18
Monthly fees charged to Residents $61.11 52.36% higher than Cottonwood
The special interests are sticking it to you! They are controlling city hall
discrimination prohibited
Title 9 – Cities and Towns
Link-http://azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/9/00500-06.htm&Title=9&DocType=ARS
9-500.06. Hospitality industry; discrimination prohibited; use of tax proceeds; exemption; definitions
This statute guides and mandates what is acceptable and how Cities and Towns can grow their revenues. It gives you options on how you can legally use municipality’s monies. To facilitate “expenditures by the city or town to develop, improve or operate tourism related attractions or facilities or to assist in the planning and promotion of such”.
Here are some great things the city can do:
· City Owned Visitor Center- easy access west Sedona
· Parking lots, walk ability, hiking and bike trails
· Attractions – build, buy and operate them. Historical, Event Centers, Wedding venues, Sport facilities.
· City owned Websites branding and bringing visitors to Sedona
· Improve traffic and transportation making our city easy to get around
· Acquire assets and develop them into parks, gathering places, entertainment locations
The list is endless. The law is clear the City of Sedona can do all that plus more with the revenue generated by the bed tax. Take the revenues generated by the bed tax and invest it in your City building City assets and growth.
Discrimination of the in-city RESIDENTS & BUSINESSES the only enrichments are with a private-membership-regional-special-interests cut them off. ROI=a loss of 4.3 MILLION in three years.
Learn the real facts.
What, you did not get a chance to enter the lottery for the management of the hub?The deal where you get free rent, free utilities, paid to manage it and get to keep all the proceeds?
Me neither. Ask the Mayor why there was only one ticket handed out.
Wow
We live in such a beautiful place…..
Why you all complaining and hating?
You 3 people must really dislike your life and find all unsatisfying.
As I said before…..I don’t see hotel “bed tax “ on my tax bill.
So if I don’t stay at a hotel ….what do I care how the city spends it..
Compared to where I come from my property taxes/county taxes are nearly 1/10 of what I was paying .. sounds as if some of you disgruntled folk should move along and find a real problem in your life,..
Just saying…..Really
Not to worry. The decline of Sedona as both a tourist attraction and place to live will continue because of people like you. Those who move here from big cities and then want to change things to exactly what they moved away from. Why not just relocate again instead of choking the charm out of what was once beautiful Sedona? Now just a ho hum overcrowded bunch of complainers about how things were where they came from. Go figure. Guess it’s great you have found your own Utopia. You don’t know what you missed prior to control by the greedy opportunists and not necessarily the needy.
you’re so transparent @Newcomer to sedona post under different names day after day. Give it up property taxes are higher than most, City employees and special interests are overpaid and snaking money from the taxpayers. sicko
Obviously no one has shared the unwritten rule of Sedona with you.
Keep your mouth shut for the first ten years, then you can talk.
zip zip it
Quite the contrary @DEAR NEWCOMER
Newcomer I think you nailed it ,as you can see the Avid NIMBYs hate anybody that says something positive or make sense and you did both . Sedona is a nice ,strong real estate market strong tax base supported by tourists, and bunch of old farts ,that want time to stop, taxes to go down and nobody new moves to town .
All those who spouted above…(btw you all sound the same)
Thanks for proving my point about your bellyaching.
Really time for you to “move along” and let us newcomers enjoy without your tainted hatred..
Bye bye
It’s a good time to sell so…….
Stay away from NEGATIVE people and don’t listen to NEGATIVE people…..
They have a PROBLEM for every SOLUTION…
Whew. According to the poster here on SE.
Sounds like there a quite a few old timers here in Sedona who suffer from the above…..NEGATIVITY
Seems Segner etal (includes anonymous Sedona Newcomers) are working overtime to discredit anyone who takes a position differing from their socialist stance. And as for slamming “oldtimers” and “a bunch of old farts” – well, does Segner avoid looking at himself in the mirror? Maybe the old saying “takes one to know one” might apply here? But, of course, he’s too busy digging up dirt on people who might dare challenge him and soliciting more “newcomers” to support his big-city plans and ideas.
And let’s face it, if the “newcomers” now allegedly allied with the city council aka Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs are happy with their performance, for the most part all of them are also Sedona newcomers except for the Mayor. And you may say, wait, not so fast – there are only six dwarfs on that council serving Sedona’s Snow White. Wrong! The seventh is the visible little bandy rooster running around town, controlling all the secret committees at city hall, posting nonfactual garbage on this web site and giving cockeyed advise to the elected dwarfs kowtowing to the banging of the Mayor gavel. At least he isn’t shy about using his name so no need to repeat it here.
The new but not necessarily improved Sedona is definitely the result of cooperating new blood that remains hellbent in turning Sedona into another Disney Land.
Nice beginning Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs and soon to be featuring the garish display of inappropriate lighting on what many Native Americans believe to be sacred red rocks. Way to go Simpletons. Disney Land at its worst.
As the reigning council(s) generally do, it’s time to slam-dunk controversial issues this time of year – when most people are unaware and engaged in Christmas shopping and preparation for the Holidays.
Therefore, check out the following:
At the City Council Meeting on Tuesday 12/12 – Discussion/possible action regarding a request for approval of a Zone Change from General Commercial to High Density Multifamily Residential to allow for the development of a 45 unit apartment complex. To be located at 3285 W. State Route 89A, at the southeastern corner of the intersection of W. State Route 89A and Pinon Drive. (Item a. under Agenda Item 8. Regular Business)
The following day, Wednesday 12/13, at a Special City Council Meeting, guess what? “Special Business” = “Discussion/possible direction regarding amendments to the Wireless Communications Facilities Ordinance, Sedona Land Development Code, Article 17, to be consistent with the changes in federal and state regulations; and the review and consideration of a draft Wireless Communications Master Plan.”
Any prediction about the outcome of either of these hot issues?
@business as usual
Oh I guess you can’t take 2 hours out of you holiday “hating” to attend a city council meeting….
Two funny
As someone said above
You find a PROBLEM to any solution ..
Merry Xmas. Bah humbug
Well our take on being Sedona residents is quite the opposite of those that have spoken here. Although we haven’t yet experienced the nitty gritty (so to speak?) the constant quest for raising taxes is a growing concern. And as we learn the history of Sedona’s incorporation we understand it was the residents living within the designated City Limits that approved the measure and NOT the tourists? So why is it the residents are those being shunned?
And yes, we moved here knowing full well it was a tourist town as are many other places such as Lake Tahoe. However, to continue to encourage more than a place can handle doesn’t make much sense. The damage to environment and out of control ATV’s and other recreational vehicles is excessive and might serve only to defeat promotional purposes. How smart is that?
We laughed at the reference to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but easily identified the name Dopey to the mouthy fellow on this site. Easy-peasy.
@@business as usual. And why would anyone waste any time at all attending a council meeting when the decisions have obviously been made prior to the event? That response sounds like it came directly from a smart-mouthed city employee who specializes in catering to the CEO of the C of C and Chair of the Lodging Council. Just a guess. BARF and BAH Humbug to them.
The rest of you – MERRY CHRISTMAS – and for the politically correct – HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
@Business As Usual? DEFINITELY!
There is also a City Council – Special Meeting on Thursday, 12/14. Guess what’s printed in the Agenda Packet under Affordable Housing? Director of Financial Services, Cherie Wright, states: “One of the impacts of short-term rentals appears to be a diminished availability of long-term rentals. Long-term rentals have been considered a significant source of affordable housing. Council may want to consider dedicating a portion of the increases in bed tax and the hotel/motel sales tax to affordable housing initiatives.”.
Most, if not all, increases in bed tax and hotel/motel sales tax are from the upswing in the national economy as a result of recovery from the Great Recession. Low gas taxes are also in the picture.
There has been no factual determination of the return on investment from the millions the City has given to the Chamber.
No surprise in the ultimate goal. Just another example of contrived behind the scenes planning and plotting by a handful of people controlling Sedona’s march to Socialism. And the majority of the City Council approves! So – what to do?
Also newcomers
Business as usual
Get real
@get real
FYI SE readers….. All the above are all the same person…
Hashtag
Nuts……obsessive….negative…..no life….crybaby …loser
This dire need for affordable rentals is nothing more than a facade in order to justify the city’s contract to give away all that money to the chamber of commerce. Another phony justification for product development. There are already plans for the 45 unit apartment development in back of Relics. Why not wait and see how and if that helps fill the alleged need for rentals? To avoid even attempting to balance supply and demand should be unacceptable. And if the Chamber and/or Lodging co-op had any ethics or credibility they would demand a wait and see approach. Of course we know it won’t happen because the City/Council team is hellbent on giving away that money to the Chamber. And Segner maintains it must be to promote tourism? And how so if the rebate goes for affordable housing? Improving roads and drainage makes better sense. You people at city hall – your panties are dropping lower and lower on a daily basis – surely but surely you will forced to be accountable for your unforgivable manipulation of public money.
call me crazy but ~ wasn’t there a 2% sales Tax approved by Council some 20 +/- years ago that was specifically “dedicated” to pay down the sewer bonds,etc.., ???
And again, call me crazy but ~ didn’t another Council appropriate a portion of those very same dedicated funds( $$$ actual dollars) AWAY from sewer (wastewater) fund and into General Fund to help pay for Their WISH list???
Oh the spinning wheel of where the funds end up …depending upon the self-serving whims of any individual council…
…just call me crazy for trying to keep up with them!
“No surprise in the ultimate goal. Just another example of contrived behind the scenes planning and plotting by a handful of people controlling Sedona’s march to Socialism. And the majority of the City Council approves! So – what to do?”
The logical thing to do is to replace those who place bumper to bumper tourists and the Chamber of Commerce above the citizens.
We need everyone who wants to restore Sedona to help. MSGA = Make Sedona Great again !! By great I mean for the residents and tourists. Not just for those who are greedy or have their hand out.
We can change things.
Resolution NO. 2017-12 shows us the money.
City Council is paid 76,585
City Manager 1,016,875
since never of these know how to run the city and they continue to OUTSOURCE to the chamber Why don’t we fired them Take the 3 million they gitt to the chamber and bingo you have 4,093,460 saved in one year.
Total Outstanding City Debt as of July 1, 2017 is $32,645,000
The remaining interest due and owing on the City’s bonds is $19.69 Million
While they PAY the chamber 3 million a year!!!!!
Because you voted YES on Homerule you have permitted the City Council to recklessly spend your money on SPECIAL INTERESTS.
They city managers need to be terminated and they need to take city council out with them VOTE them out.
4,093,460 saved in one year.they aren’t managing the city anyway.
Nothing will change until and unless there’s a vocal uprising. Anyone remember the 1976 movie Network? The featured phrase was “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” Check it out and decide if you will remain passively complaining only to your neighbor or become publicly vocal.
Oh don’t forget to watch the light testing this evening – 5:00 to 10:00 PM. Play the game watch Bambi, Thumber and Friends Run.
https://neilchughes.com/2014/07/15/im-mad-as-hell-speech-from-network-1976/
What resolution are you looking at certainly not 2017-12 because no where does it say that City Council is paid $76,585. I follow these things and the $500 per month for a councilor and $700 per month for mayor sandy doesn’t quite pencil out to your number. The city manager is paid 1,016,875?????? where did you get that number; ONE MILLION SIXTEEN THOUSAND EITHER HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE ????? That’s what you typed. I’m not going to look at the rest of your gibberish.
@run Bambi run
I guess that means you’ll have to get out from behind your computer and stop posting 15 times a day using different names…LOL. Your hilarious as well as predictable..
@Jessica oh Jessica the numbers posted by Jessica (pay for council members & city manager) are kookoo! Unless maybe they get a rebate from the Chamber Slush fund? More product development – ah yes creativity lives on in Sedona. Ho Ho Ho and that ain’t necessarily from Santa (unless you’re on the cash receiving end)?? Just a thought.
letter to city council
Proposed Action & Subject: Public hearing/discussion/possible action regarding a request for approval of a Zone Change from C-2 (General Commercial) to RM-3 (High Density Multifamily Residential)
I am sorry I will not be able to make the meeting tonight.
The Sedona Lodging council is in favor of Proposed Action & Subject: Public hearing/discussion/possible action regarding a request for approval of a Zone Change from C-2 (General Commercial) to RM-3 (High Density Multifamily Residential)
We are in dire need of housing, and this is a good start.
Lets all remember this is only 50 units creating perhaps a 75 car addition to traffic flow, which would barely be noticeable, since on any given day, permanent residents fill our streets with an average of 7000+ trips! Workers number close to 10,000 people and visitors run 5,000 to 10,000 a day. The argument that this will add to traffic in Sedona is a mute point! If we force builders to move to cottonwood, Camp Verde and the Village that will put more traffic pressure on the city at work rush hour.
Steve Segner
Sedona Lodging Council
Resolution NO. 2017-12 is the annual budget dollars broken down into departments by the year. 2017
City Council is paid 76,585
City Manager 1,016,875
It’s a serious topic of conversation; the Segner comment (Lodging Council) would be ludicrous for its irresponsible traffic impact information; see Arizona Department of Transportation Sedona AZ traffic study for latest numbers. The numbers and impact stated are without foundation and Segner should provide data supporting traffic impact assertions. As a traffic engineer, I find this type of misinformation egregious and irresponsible. To point, building outside Sedona toward Cottonwood and Cornville will not increase traffic pressure at rush hour as the road system outside Sedona is built to handle traffic densities; it is Sedona red rocks proper creating the bottleneck triangle. Would you blast away the reason for the Sedona town to exist?
@Dr K Lu
Yea ok “Dr K Lu
(deleted by editor)
Dr K Lu says: then you are you saying we do not have 8,000 to 10,000 residents? 8,000 to 10,000 visitors and 8,000 + workers? a day? you are saying 55 units will add to the traffic congestion to such extent that we should not build new apartments?
That if all new apartments or condos are built in the village that 179 will not be impacted? Yes tear the traffic study please. you see to speak NIMBY well.
“Teamwork : Together we can do the work of one ”
City Manager Department $1,016,875
City Manager
Assistant City Manager
Administrative Assistant
Citizens Engagement Coordinator
Communications Manager
Economic Development Director
Maybe they need all these people because they only “work” 180 days a year after at least two weeks paid vacation, two weeks paid leave, 8 Monday holidays off and only show up 4 days a week.
Unfortunately, Doctor, others in charge of Sedona don’t take accountability as a serious matter such as you suggest. Steve Segner and/or the Chamber of Commerce have NEVER been held sufficiently accountable for providing reliable statistics and/or outside audits to uphold their outrageous allegations of being the be-all produce-all reason for the existence of Sedona, Arizona.
It is disgusting. And at this stage of the game the latest twist appears to be justifying providing quite possibly hundreds of “affordable” housing units to accommodate all levels of employees of the hospitality industry, as a government enterprise, in order to authorize the Chamber of Commerce to finance such a preposterous endeavor via the excessive amount of public funding rapidly accumulating in what appears to be nothing more than a frivolous slush fund account. The project to enable the Chamber of Commerce to venture further into the business of real estate development and sales allegedly will fall under the category of “Product Development.” Further, by recommendation of the Sedona City Manager the City Council recently approved renewal of the City’s contract with the Chamber of Commerce for seven years, apparently without benefit of reliable accountability and/or outside audit.
So, although your points are well taken, they no doubt will remain shunned as this ludicrous shell game and the Great Sedona rip off stands pat on their one-way trip to allow a private member-driven organization to steer the sinking ship. And, of course, let us not overlook the fact the husband of the Chamber of Commerce is a licensed realtor. Just Saying.
For the record, the above comments reflect my opinion. A stipulation that to my knowledge has never been offered by Segner as he babbles off the cuff nonsense as being facts.
@Dr K Lu says:
Did you go to the City Council meeting last night, and state how you feel? NO
Are my numbers incorrect ? NO
Are you against housing for people? YES
The chamber has nothing to do with this issue. It is the Sedona Lodging Council and other concerned citizens, and we are a paying member of the chamber and only a member.
Why are you going on and on about chamber re housing. Last nights meeting was about one apartment building.
@Dr K Lu says:quite possibly hundreds of “affordable” housing units see you just make this up show us all how you can support this statement? But I would love it
(deleted by editor)
You would think a Dr and a Highway engineer(lol) would have better things to do.
The reason I seem to know so much about Sedona City employees is because I once worked there but got fired…. Thus this explains my hatred for Sedona and I also take no responsibility for my actions
Thnk you
What if, instead of closing the City Manager Department, we just close the whole city and have the County take over? It would be hard for the county to pave less roads than our current city does. At the current rate they will be paved once every 50 years by the city of Sedona.
Hey how come there is no Dr K Lu listed as a name from Sedona….
Hmmmmmm sounds like BS to me..
If not, stay out of sedona business and worry about your own town..
Ok fraud!!
It appears Dr. K Lu and references touched some nerves and set off some fireworks? Well – when the truth sends out those kind of alarms what more is there to prove. Way to Doc!!
And again, Segner, we all know it’s cuz the Lodging Council cut the deal with the city for at least 50% return of what was supposed to be a .5% bed tax increase. And that was to go for a contract with the Chamber (no RFP’s) for advertising Sedona. And now that tourism has saturated the area and there’s room for no more, the push is on for the do-re-mi to go for housing! Get a grip – truth is truth. And why does staff and city allow it? Simple solution cut back on the over-stated 50-55% of the bed tax to the Chamber. DUH – Dopey of the Seven Dwarfs. Or maybe you should be known as Pinocchio. Your nose did look a big longer when you were buying those turkeys. But then – who could tell which were the turkeys?
No one has listed numbers anymore. Cell Phones don’t get listed. Dumb. Why are you on the eye? Go get a life.
You notice that while these anonymous trolls may attack individuals, they never dispute my facts. I do so enjoy them saying “to know so much about Sedona City employees.” Much of my knowledge comes from sedonaaz.gov, the city website, see for yourself. For factual knowledge see sedonacity.com.
Intelligent readers will vote accordingly.
Well your posting says a lot about you. You were fired I’m sure because you were an award receiving employee???? Maybe you worked your butt off and they fired you for that???? Maybe you were an assistant of a department and did nothing for over 20 years but got a good salary???? Maybe you could no longer meet the standards required of a good employee???
Which one fits???
When you wrote this:
Maybe they need all these people because they only “work” 180 days a year after at least two weeks paid vacation, two weeks paid leave, 8 Monday holidays off and only show up 4 days a week.
you conveniently omitted that most employees work 10 hour days which equals a 40 hour work week. How is that different from any other municipal worker? What municipal employee doesn’t receive 2 weeks vacation and all of the rest.
Sounds like sour grapes and A NONE ISSUE!
Oh Mary c
Such a complainer
Please enlighten us with what road you want paved.
Tell us which on is not to ur satisfaction
“Please enlighten us with what road you want paved.
Tell us which on is not to ur satisfaction”
Lovely grammar dear. Sedona has over 100 miles of supposedly city maintained roads. The city paved just over 2 miles last fiscal year, leave your city office and take your pick. Bad roads off either state maintained highway are not hard to find.
The eye has so much great information on it . It is the top read local website with lots of great articles disclosing the issues here. Those that have their hands in the taxpayers cookie jar, can’t stop from trying to discredit the people and website that shows us they are stealing from the taxpayers.
They try and say it comes from tourists but that is simply not true. They use this to rationalize their very bad behavior. NO city or town gifts MILLIONS of $$$$ to private groups & clubs.
So folks remember each time someone gets attacked they are doing a good JOB!!!!
Thank you Dr K Lu GREAT info please keep the comments coming.
Great stuff Sedona Eye & kudos to Eddie Maddock AMAZING ! Engaging & excellent writing. You are a jewel, one of a kind. With 643 Comments you can say that speaks for its self. Congratulations!!
@Touchy Touchy
The deal the Lodging Council cut with the City was for 55% of the entire 3.5% bed tax, not the .5% bed tax increase you allege.
Hey nimmies, there will soon be a vacancy on the SFD governing board. Why not one of you troll’s show some mettle and get on the board, instead of cowering behind some fake name, lobbing vitriol and lies?
Watch the video When the city approved the 1/2 % increase the game was played that since the 1/2 percent was higher then other industries then that 1/2% had to be reinvested into that industry. TRUTH. The investment could be use for planning ect. Then the beggar and whiners lied told the oldie m City council that all Cities give them 60% of bed taxes the old fools voted to give them 55%. What they didn’t disclose is that NO city GIFTS Chambers bed taxes. That the city of Scottsdale has there own tourism-event department and PAYS professional research companies to do their data and measurement collection. Nope here we are dopey. Sedona 7 dwarfy old dumby CC