From the CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA BUSINESS JOURNAL:
…“ Renegotiating the food and beverage concession agreements between the convention center authority and Penn Square Partners could move $400,000 to $500,000 a year to the authority’s side of the balance sheet’, suggested Stephen Sikking, a partner in the Eden Resort and Fulton Steamboat Hotel and a bureau board and task force member.
“The existing agreements give the authority 5 percent of proceeds, whereas 20 percent to 30 percent would be more typical of industry practices, he said.
“Sikking, like many county hoteliers, strongly opposes a hotel tax hike, saying the industry has already done enough to support the convention center…”
Click here to read the full article.
EDITOR: The first two-thirds of the article sound as though it came from press releases by Penn Square Partners… and well it may have. However, the above excerpts are accurate and illuminating.
A good portion of the short fall of the convention center is due to the despicable ‘sweetheart deal’ favoring Penn Square Partners that was rammed down the throat of the LCCCA board without even given board members adequate opportunity to review the documents.
There is a clear cut step that the County Commissioners must take at this point which we will soon describe. That step is certainly not to raise the hotel room sales tax.
Before ANY tax increase of ANY KIND on City/County Taxpayers, the Hotel Industry, or the Restaurant Industry is even considered, there MUST be a voter referendum THIS FALL. Only then should any increase be considered.
Otherwise…let PSP make up the difference…this was their brainchild, they created the one-sided agreement, and gave the LCCCA no time to investigate, review and compare with other agreements before demanding signatures. Just how much is PSP profiting from LCCCA space within the LCCCA building????????