Surprise, surprise…. Our elected have forgotten what a dedicated fund is. They will go any where to continue to take money instead of looking any where to cut.

Tourism officials fuming over EC Legislature cut - Business First of Buffalo:

A series of last-minute addendums to the proposed $1.45 billion Erie County budget has drawn the wrath and ire of the hospitality industry as bed tax funds were, again, diverted away from the primary tourism agencies.

The Erie County Legislature, in a prelude to Tuesday’s expected vote on the 2008 spending package, took $1 million from bed tax receipts from budget lines allocated towards the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau, Buffalo Niagara Convention Center and Buffalo Niagara Film Commission and placed it elsewhere in the budget.

Erie County Executive Joel Giambra had proposed that nearly $5.2 million of the estimated $7.1 million in anticipated 2008 bed tax receipts go to the three agencies. The deal, many had assumed, was done with the blessing of the Erie County Legislature.

But, Friday afternoon, shortly before the legislature assembled to accept the budget, tourism officials learned their total allocation was going to be $4.2 million - a slightly increase from 2007, but far below what had been expected.

“We know the CVB is an economic development engine and we increased their line 100 percent from last year, but this is a step by step process,” said Legislator Michelle Ianello, D-Tonawanda.

Still, tourism officials felt they were blindsided at the 11th hour.

“They have no regard for what is a growing economy in Western New York,” fumed a visibly upset Richard Geiger, CVB president and CEO. “In a marketplace that is losing jobs, what else should they be investing in? They are not giving us any money to market or promote the region.”

Giambra had proposed the tourism groups receive 80 percent of the bed tax receipts. The CVB, working on a bare bones budget this year, was still able to generate $80 million in future bookings for the region. Those bookings could translate into $120 million in new sales tax dollars for the community.

“I’d take that return any day,” Geiger said.

Legislator Robert Reynolds, D-Hamburg, chairman of the legislature’s finance committee, said while he is sympathetic to the CVB’s plight, he felt it would hurt other county functions if all the bed tax dollars went directly to the tourism groups.

“We’re not punishing the CVB, but there’s only so much to work with,” Reynolds said.

The legislature has scheduled a vote for 2 p.m. Tuesday to formally approve the budget, which holds the line on property taxes, but what they still call “bare bones.”

Tourism officials said they expect to spend the next three days lobbying legislators to consider the original Giambra proposal.

“We don’t want a slice of the sales tax or property tax, just give us the bed tax dollars, which were supposed to go to us to begin with,” Geiger said.

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