Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
0 <br />���1IIL�_C�tuTl«`�L1C�rI3u_ 1�ir a <br />The financial recommendations are based on the evaluation of both existing sources of funds and state <br />legislative precedent for new forms of revenue. The various options that are available to Orange <br />County to establish and fund a suitable infrastructure for the provision of visitor services, will be <br />assessed based on the efficiency with which they can be secured and the ability to access existing <br />revenue sources that could be dedicated to a visitor initiative. <br />In this respect, the financial objectives of the authority are: <br />• To utilize the information that is generated from the research and marketing sub - committees, in <br />identifying the most readily achievable source of existing or new funds with which to implement <br />initial programs and infrastructure; <br />• In conjunction with the appropriate government bodies and agencies of Orange County, to provide <br />for the formation of an authority and financial guidelines to administer the funding of a <br />county wide program; <br />• To identify a permanent source of funding to implement the recommended programs on an ongoing <br />basis. <br />At present, there are three identified sources of existing and new funding, which have been discussed <br />and evaluated informally by the Task Force; these being: <br />• Chapel Hill Occupancy Tax (Existing) <br />• County Occupancy Tax (Overlay) <br />• Prepared Food and Beverage Tax (Meals Tax) <br />An Entertainment Tax and Sales and Use Tax were both evaluated and deemed inappropriate or not <br />feasible for either interim or permanent funding at this point in time. <br />7.1 Existing 0ccuRAncy Tax Cha 1 Hill ® 3°) <br />The town of Chapel Hill appropriates approximately 20% of its existing occupancy tax to <br />visitor and cultural activities. If this percentage tax were applied to a visitors initiative at a <br />county level, it would provide a minimum of $50,000 to a dedicated county program that would <br />be responsible for the administration and allocation of the funds to the designated areas. <br />7.2 County, Occupan y Tax <br />This new county-wide tax, requested as an overlay of up to 3%, would generate as much as <br />$345,000 annually. Initially, only 1% would be applied, generating approximately $115,000 <br />per annum for a county program for visitors. There is a legislative precedent for this tax being <br />levied on a county wide basis (Mecklenberg). <br />9 <br />