By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
Put away your tea bags — the Ashtabula County bed tax is steeped in fun, helping to promote wines, covered bridges and everything else the county tourism industry has to offer.
When Ashtabula County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau executive director Mark Winchell counts his budget, he counts the county bed tax twice.
“We use the bed tax money to promote tourism for the entire county,” Winchell said. “We are getting some great deals on advertising and really negotiating some great discounts in newspaper, glossy magazines, TV, radio and Internet ads.”
The 105 cottages, hotels, motels, cabins and bed and breakfasts in the county pay a 5 percent bed tax on every room rented. That tax, after administrative costs, is split between the ACCVB and the county’s convention facilities authority. The bed tax is collected both monthly and quarterly, county commissioners assistant clerk Diana Ondrus said.
Lodging in Geneva Township, Kingsville Township, Ashtabula Township, North Kingsville, Andover Township, Ashtabula and Jefferson, along with Geneva-on-the-Lake costs an additional 2 percent for consumers, county commissioners assistant clerk Diana Ondrus said.
“By order of the Ohio Revised Code, this is the breakdown,” Ondrus said. “This is exactly what happens with the bed tax money.”
The county took $1,216 of the bed tax in January to pay for Ondrus’ time, postage, copying fees and envelopes, she said.
“Owners of some smaller loading places don’t know why they have to pay the bed tax, but this is what the convention and visitor’s bureau lives on,” Ondrus said. “This is a pass-through tax, meaning the business owners don’t pay it, the residents don’t pay it — the consumer pays it. The tax is tacked right onto the end of the lodging bill.”
Winchell said the county gets “a lot of bang for the bed tax buck” in promotion for the local tourism industry.
“We offer a blended campaign of newspapers, billboards, radio, local and cable TV, Internet, and glossy magazines,” Winchell said. “We offer one of the largest co-op advertising campaigns in Ohio.”
Winchell said the county spends $50,000 in bed tax money on advertising each year, but gets a $120,000 value for the money.
“In 2007 the industry saw a $146 million return in tourism,” he said.
To better account for its additional bed tax — which is collected on top of the county’s bed tax — Geneva-on-the-Lake will perform a 12-month bed tax audit, to be completed by village fiscal officer Kimberly McKinley.
