Op-Ed: Join Me in Supporting an Effort to Reduce Our Tax Burden
By Kenny Wroten • November 2, 2024The following Op-Ed was submitted by Rep. Kenny Wroten (R-Nampa). Op-Eds do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those at the Idaho Dispatch.
As a steadfast defender of our conservative values and a committed advocate for Nampa’s future, I strongly urge residents to vote IN FAVOR of the Nampa Auditorium District ballot initiative. This is not a tax on you or your family—it’s a targeted user fee that places the cost squarely on visitors staying in our hotels, allowing us to reap the benefits without increasing the financial burden on local taxpayers.
This initiative is about preserving local control and enhancing Nampa’s economic strength. Instead of watching our dollars fund other cities’ growth, we can keep them here, reduce government dependency, and empower our community to thrive. This type of smart, conservative policy limits government interference while creating a self-sustaining economic engine that strengthens our city without touching your paycheck or draining city resources.
Make no mistake—this is a pro-family, pro-business, pro-Nampa initiative. It’s self-funding through a visitor lodging fee that doesn’t affect our local families, allowing us to grow our economy and enhance our city while protecting our way of life and preventing big government overreach.
A vote for the Nampa Auditorium District is a vote for freedom, prosperity, and local control. Join me in voting YES this November, and together, let’s secure a stronger, more prosperous Nampa.
Representative Kenny Wroten
District 13B, Nampa, Idaho
Tags: Kenny Wroten, Nampa, Nampa Auditorium District, Tax
If voted in a committee of 5 people will write their own by-laws on how the committee will function. The purpose will be to impose a per bed TAX on hotels in their district. They state that MOST people staying in hotels are out of town tourist and it is simply getting more money from those ‘likely’ staying over to attend an event at the Idaho Ford Center. I think if we did a study we will find that is not the case. ONE person I actually know, her son got married and out of town family stayed at local hotels. This would have made each of their hotels bills higher if it were already in affect.
The bed tax is likely to bring in $1.5 million per year. Our property taxes will not be lowered collectively by $1.5 million. That would have to be a separate petition of sorts to the city council or ballot measure. The $1.5 million is not allowed to be used for general operation costs. It is meant for major repairs or renovations. (Or possibly building a 3rd entertainment venue in Nampa.). I don’t know of any ‘major repairs’ to a building that size which would only cost $1.5 million. So it will take several years of this tax to our community to fill the account sufficiently. Therefore, any emergency repairs to the building prior to full funding will still come out of the city budget. Likely with promises to pay it back at a certain rate.
The 5 members of this committee can collect and hold the money, but are not allowed to spend it without agreement from the Nampa City Council. This still involves the City Council, therefore it does NOT reduce government, only institutes yet another quasi government entity for the men, women, and children of Nampa to give time and attention to. If in collaboration a plan is not agreed upon, then this money simply remains sitting in the account until an agreed upon project comes along.
Lastly, I am not sure who would be in charge of awarding contracts for the major repairs/renovations. Would it be the City Council or would it be this committee? Would the committee line up all the contractors prior to pitching the idea?
As an average citizen minimally involved in local government I am not certain what is currently in place and what has already been tried to improve it. However, my very first issue is the city owning such a venue. I understand the arguments, but really if it can’t make money on its own, it should not be subsidized with our money. It is also my understanding that the current management company is an out of state conglomerate which costs a TON of money for their management services. I was told that getting entertainment from all over the country to come to Nampa instead of Boise (or Portland, etc) takes special skill sets and therefore cannot be handled by a local management company since none are qualified.
I think the main point here is that a bed tax on hotels is still a NEW TAX. The bed tax will not reduce property taxes. It creates yet another committee for citizens to watch to ensure no fraud takes place. The men, women, and children of Nampa are already spread thin. If the first 5 committee members get elected and it is decided later the citizens don’t like them…..who will run against them to ‘clean up’ any messes potentially caused?
These are all excellent points you bring up, Maggie! As with all government “entities”, I’m always skeptical on whether they will bring anything positive to the table, or just become another place to squander money and make it the taxpayer’s problem in the end.
There’s too many happy and positive posts about pushing this through that makes me wonder, why are they all pushing this so hard??? I mean, seriously, three full stories on why we should vote yes on Prop 5, and that’s just on ID Dispatch’s site! Something seems a bit fishy here…
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