Poll: ‘No’ on countywide hotel tax increase

A majority of respondents to a recent Argus-Courier online poll said they would not vote to increase the countywide hotel tax from 9 to 12 percent.|

A majority of respondents to a recent Argus-Courier online poll said they would not vote to increase the countywide hotel tax from 9 to 12 percent. About three quarters of respondents said they are against the tax increase, while a quarter said they would vote for it on the November ballot.

Here are some comments:

--

“Have you been to Las Vegas? I think it’s 20 percent there, but then it’s Las Vegas. Twelve percent is fair.”

--

“Higher tourist costs puts low and middle income families visiting our area more out of reach of enjoying our area. County supervisors should live within their means. No new taxes. SRJC has two bonds on my property tax bill for essential upgrades, but I see they have an abundant amount of extra money now to spend on non essential services. Is everyone OK with that?”

--

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out higher taxes will hurt hotel business. At what point will our elected officials figure out the words ‘No more taxes?’ Most of us are out of money.”

--

“My first reaction was that I’d vote for it. Why not? After all, the money is coming out of the pockets of people who don’t live in Sonoma County. But, in the end, it’s just giving more money for the incompetent buffoons on the Board of Supervisors to mismanage. It won’t improve the quality of life in the county one bit. So, no, I won’t vote for the increase.”

--

“No. I travel for my job. I won’t stay anywhere that adds more than 8 percent hotel tax. More than once, anyway.”

--

“Not another ‘yes’ to tax increases until they fix the increasing drain of unsustainable pensions.”

--

“Now you have a tax that I’ll vote for. Tax the tourists, not us.”

--

“I’ll probably vote for it. Hotels use lots of resources and bring in more people to this already overcrowded county.”

--

“We do not need to increase any more taxes. Our county, and specifically the city of Petaluma, has a bad habit of spending money in the wrong places and then begging for more tax dollars. Develop more business, bring in more revenue and put it to good use.”

--

“Why do we keep trying to raise taxes?”

--

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.