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Tourism Revenue and Development Proposal
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The Tourism Commission is managed by a 7 member volunteer Board of Commissioners jointly appointed by the Mayor and Judge
Current Commissioners
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Rene'e Roberts
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Chair |
Chamber of Commerce |
| Darlene Albin |
Vice-Chair |
Mayor Appointee |
| Kim Summers |
Secretary/Treasurer |
Judge Appointee |
| Kelly McEuen |
Commissioner |
Hotel/Motel Representative |
| Steve Jay Fryman |
Commissioner |
Restaurant Representative |
| Alison Chenet |
Commissioner |
Hotel/Motel Representative |
| Pari Thakor |
Commissioner |
Hotel/Motel Representative |
- A full-time director, a full-time office manager and a part-time staff person are employed to implement the goals and objectives of the Tourism Commission.
- The Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Commission is funded by a three percent room tax on all short term-lodging in Scott County.
- Average annual tax revenue the past three fiscal years was $234,155.
- Services provided by the Tourism Commission:
- Design and distribution of over 200,000 brochures and maps annually that promote Georgetown and Scott County
- Maintain a comprehensive website providing tourism related information
- Represent Georgetown and Scott County in regional and state-wide tourism industry initiatives
- Advertise Georgetown and Scott County in a variety of media
- Greets visitors and provide tourism information at the Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Welcome Center located on Outlet Center Drive
- Greet visitors and provide tourism information at the I-75 southbound Visitor's Center Monday-Friday from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
- Provides grants to support local events and attractions such as Morgan's Raid, the International Kite Festival, Festival of the Horse, Yuko-en Garden and many more.
- Provides in-kind services to local events including brochure design, advertising design and placement, event volunteers
- Kentucky Revised Statutes permit fourth class cities, such as Georgetown, to implement a restaurant tax for the use of the local Tourism Commission. The Statute reads as follows:
91A.400 Restaurant tax in cities of fourth and fifth classes.
In addition to the three percent (3%) transient room tax authorized by KRS 91A.390, the city legislative body in cities of the fourth and fifth classes may levy an additional restaurant tax not to exceed three percent (3%) of the retail sales by all restaurants doing business in the city. All moneys collected from the tax authorized by this section shall be turned over to the tourist and convention commission established in that city as provided by KRS 91A.350 to 91A.390.
Effective: July 14, 1992
History: Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 435, sec. 11, effective July 14, 1992. --
Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 203, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1986. -- Created 1980
Ky. Acts ch. 235, sec. 21, effective July 15, 1980.
- The Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Commission proposes that a restaurant tax be enacted by the Georgetown City Council. The overall purpose of the tax is to attract more visitors to Georgetown that will result in increased sales for hotels, restaurants and local retail establishments. These sales increases would spur economic development and result in new jobs, both of which increase the tax base for the city. The funds raised will be used to increase advertising and promotion, provide for capital improvements to existing and future attractions, and to develop new attractions.
- Twenty cities in Kentucky have implemented a restaurant tax. A list of these cities is attached. Some of these cities also have a lodging tax. Officials in some of these cities have reported that implementing a restaurant tax has had the desired result of generating economic development without negatively impacting restaurant business and growth. In other words, implementing a restaurant tax has enabled these cities to attract more visitors which have resulted in more business for the restaurants as well as other retail businesses.
- Based on information provided by the Scott County Revenue Commission, restaurant sales in Georgetown in 2003 totaled $30,411,093. A three percent (3%) restaurant tax on this amount of sales would generate $912,333 in tax revenue. Since 2003, a number of new restaurants (e.g., Golden Corral, Gold Star Chili) have opened and several more have broken ground (e.g., Ruby Tuesday, Mi Mexico). As a result of this growth in new restaurants it is expected that future restaurant sales will be significantly higher than indicated by the 2003 data.
- While the Kentucky Revised Statutes state that all moneys collected by a restaurant tax shall be turned over to the tourist and convention commission, the Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Commission proposes that seventy-five percent (75%) of the tax revenue generated be distributed to tourism related "quality of life" initiatives in the city of Georgetown.
- Potential "quality of life"recipients along with sample projects that were identified by the Tourism Commission include, but are not limited to the following:
- Arts and cultural activities
- Fund cultural and arts events
- Renovate the Bradshaw Home
- Improve the barns and fencing
- Install catering kitchen
- Improve acoustics in Scott County Hall
- Build amphitheater and stage/shell
- Convert upper floor to bed and breakfast rooms
- Convention/conference/performing arts center
- Develop a facility for conferences, performing arts and events such as large banquets, high school graduation, etc.
- Elkhorn Creek Trail development
- Acquire rights of way for trail development
- Install pedestrian bridges
- Improve trail surface
- Interpretive signage, park benches and trail head parking
- Increase funding for popular events such as Morgan's Raid, the International Kite Festival, and Festival of the Horse
- Georgetown Renaissance, Inc.
- Improve streetscape
- Install seasonal and holiday decorations
- Develop a Tourist Signage program
- Provide matching funds for grants to improve building facades
- Renovate the jail for its proposed use as a cultural and arts facility
- Help fund capital projects such as the proposed water park and improvements to facilities such as the Pavilion and Scott County Park
- Fund the interpretive program at the Park
- Capital improvements and renovation of the buildings
- Capital improvements to the facility to expand displays to the upper and lower levels of the museum
- Install an elevator to all levels
- Fund new permanent and temporary exhibits
- Scott Education and Community Foundation
- Ward Hall
- Stabilize existing structure
- Restore interior and exterior to period
- Acquire period furniture
- Install modern electricity, HVAC and plumbing
- Reconstruct the historic barn
- Finance displays and exhibits
- Yuko-En on the Elkhorn Kentucky-Japan Friendship Garden
- Complete the proposed pavilion on the existing foundation
- Many of the potential recipients of these funds are also eligible for state and federal matching grants. In order to receive the grants, it is necessary to have matching funds from local government or other entities. The restaurant tax "Quality of Life" funds would ensure that local matching funds are available to qualify for grants, thus adding even more money to the local economy.
- The Tourism Commission proposes that the restaurant tax be collected on a monthly basis either by the Tourism Commission directly or by the recently established Revenue Commission.
- The Tourism Commission further proposes that the "quality of life" funds be managed and distributed by a Grant Distribution Committee that would be made up of the Georgetown City Council and the Tourism Commission.
- Based on the 2003 restaurant sales figure referenced above, the potential "quality of life" portion (75%) of a restaurant tax would amount to $684,250. The Tourism Commission portion (25%) would be $228,083.
- The Tourism Commission would use the additional income to increase the Commission's advertising and promotion budget and significantly increase community event grants. A chart is attached that lists Tourism Commission grant requests over the past three years and the amounts that were actually funded. As can be seen on the chart, there is a substantial gap between demand for grant money and the amount of money that is available for this purpose.
- The Tourism Commission requests that the restaurant tax commence on July 1, 2005, and that all funds collected through December 31, 2005 be held in interest bearing accounts. These funds would then be allocated to the grant recipients for distribution in the 2006-2007 fiscal year. Therein after, the restaurant taxes would accumulate for a full calendar year for allocation and distribution at the commencement of the following fiscal year.
- Requests for funding would be made directly to the Grant Distribution Committee in the form of grant applications. The Distribution Committee would be responsible for reviewing, approving and distributing all grants.
- This tax would benefit the citizens of Georgetown by providing funds for developing new tourist attractions as well as capital improvements for existing attractions that are currently under-funded. The money would also be used to help fund existing events (such as the Kite Festival, Morgan's Raid, Festival of the Horse, etc) and provide "seed money" to establish new events.
- A three percent tax will add 30 cents to a $10.00 meal, 60 cents to a $20.00 meal, $1.50 to a $50.00 meal and $3.00 to a $100.00 meal.
- The restaurant tax is voluntary since it will only be assessed when someone chooses to dine out. It will be paid by out of town visitors, county residents residing outside of the city limits and residents of Georgetown. It is estimated that many local restaurants, especially those located near I-75, generate a large percentage of their business from out of town visitors.
In order to get an idea of where restaurant customers are coming from, the Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Commission conducted an informal survey of license plates in 12 restaurant parking lots during the lunch and dinner hours for the week of February 21 through February 27, 2005. The restaurants selected for this survey included six adjacent to Interstate 75 (Applebee's, Cracker Barrel, Golden Corral, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's and O'Charley's) and six restaurants located on South Broadway (Burger King, Orient Express, Pizza Hut, Popeye Chicken, Skyline Chili and Sonic Drive-In). The methodology of the survey was to visit each of the restaurants between noon and 1:00 pm and again between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm. All vehicles parked in the restaurant parking lots were counted as being from Scott County, other Kentucky Counties or out of state.
The results of the Interstate vicinity restaurant survey counted a total of 4,004 cars. Of these, 38% were from Scott County, 49% were from other Kentucky Counties and 13% were from out of state. The results of the South Broadway restaurant survey counted 1,243 cars. Of these, 69% were from Scott County, 26% were from other Kentucky Counties, and 4% were from out of state.
Overall Results
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Cherry Blossom
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South Broadway
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Total
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Percentage
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| Scott County |
1,502
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869
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2,379
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52%
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| Kentucky Other |
1,404
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339
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1,633
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36%
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| Out of State |
505
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48
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553
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12%
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| Total |
1,909.15
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1,256
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4,557
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Please note, that since Kentucky truck license plates do not include the county of origin, all Kentucky trucks were counted in the Kentucky Other County category. Obviously, this would result in some Scott County vehicles not being counted in the Scott County numbers. Also note that it is impossible to determine if a Scott County license is that of a Georgetown resident or a resident of the county. Data for 2003 obtained from the Georgetown/Scott County Chamber of Commerce reports that the total population of Scott County was 36,726. The population for the City of Georgetown was 19,013, or 52% of the total Scott County population. It would be reasonable to assume that of the Scott County license plates counted, 48% were not residents of the City of Georgetown.
It should also be noted that the primary travel months are June, July, August and September. During those months the percentage of visitors from outside Scott County would be significantly greater than the time period covered by the survey.
Grant Overview
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Requests
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Amount
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Amount
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Fiscal Year 2002/2003
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Requested
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Funded
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| Georgetown Renaissance, Inc. |
11,000.00 |
3,500.00 |
Festival of the Horse
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4,000.00 |
Soap Box Derby
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1,000.00 |
| Morgan's Raid |
5,000.00 |
2,500.00 |
| Antique Association |
4,625.00 |
1,000.00 |
| Ky All Stars |
1,600.00 |
1,600.00 |
| Miscellaneous Grants |
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632.05 |
| Scott Education Foundation |
7,000.00 |
7,000.00 |
| International Kite Festival |
8,500.00 |
5,653.26 |
| Sadieville RR |
10,000.00 |
1,500.00 |
| Georgetown College Football Tryouts |
2,752.00 |
1,000.00 |
| Bengals Training Camp |
17,000.00 |
3,000.00 |
| Scott Co. Art League |
200.00 |
200.00 |
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| TOTAL |
$67,677.00 |
$32,585.31 |
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Requests
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Amount
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Amount
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Fiscal Year 2003/2004
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Requested
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Funded
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| Morgan's Raid |
13,950.00 |
1,000.00 |
| Museum |
10,000.00 |
5,500.00 |
| Rotary/Soap Box Derby |
1,000.00 |
500.00 |
| Antique Association |
4,475.00 |
1,000.00 |
| Ky All Stars |
1,600.00 |
1,000.00 |
| Scott Education Foundation/Yuko-En Garden |
6,000.00 |
1,500.00 |
| International Kite Festival |
11,500.00 |
3,000.00 |
| Scott County Art Consortium |
6,400.00 |
1,000.00 |
| Bengals Training Camp |
6,000.00 |
0.00 |
| Sadieville RR |
10,000.00 |
1,000.00 |
| Georgetown Renaissance, Inc. |
9,000.00 |
2,500.00 |
Festival of the Horse
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|
4,000.00 |
| Stamping Ground Buffalo Daze |
1,500.00 |
1,000.00 |
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| TOTAL |
$81,425.00 |
$23,000.00 |
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Requests
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Amount
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Amount
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Fiscal Year 2004/2005
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Requested
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Funded
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| Cardome Centre |
20,000.00 |
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Morgan's Raid
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|
2,000.00 |
International Kite Festival
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|
2,000.00 |
| Antique Association |
4,275.00 |
1,200.00 |
| Ky All Stars |
1,600.00 |
1,600.00 |
| Scott Education Foundation/Yuko-En |
7,220.00 |
3,000.00 |
| Scott County Art Consortium |
2,350.00 |
2,000.00 |
| Scott County Council of the Arts |
3,000.00 |
0.00 |
| Sadieville RR |
5,000.00 |
750.00 |
| Georgetown College Football Nat. |
|
2,500.00 |
| Georgetown Renaissance, Inc. |
10,500.00 |
2,900.00 |
Festival of the Horse
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4,000.00 |
Fall Bluegrass Day
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Fall Car Cruise
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Harvest Trail
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Red Hat Day
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Soapbox Derby
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500.00 |
Spring Bluegrass Day
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Spring Car Cruise
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Summer Car Cruise
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| Garth PTO Art Fair |
700.00 |
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| Stamping Ground Buffalo Daze |
1,250.00 |
1,000.00 |
| City of Stamping Ground |
853.18 |
650.00 |
| Ward Hall Preservation Foundation |
27,500.00 |
10,000.00 |
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| TOTAL |
$84,248.18 |
$34,100.00 |
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Kentucky Cities With Restaurant Taxes
| City |
Lodging |
Restaurant |
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| Cave City |
3%
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1%
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| Pineville |
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3%
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| Jackson |
3%
|
3%
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| Shepherdsville |
|
2%
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| Oak Grove |
3%
|
2%
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| Prestonsburg |
3%
|
3%
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| Fulton |
3%
|
1%
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| Cumberland |
3%
|
3%
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| Harlan |
3%
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3%
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| Munfordville |
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3%
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| Paintsville |
3%
|
2%
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| Barbourville |
3%
|
2%
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| Grand Rivers |
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3%
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| Eddyville |
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2%
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| Kuttawa |
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2%
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| Marion |
3%
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2%
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| Mt. Sterling |
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2%
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| West Liberty |
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3%
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| Bardstown |
3%
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1%
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| Morehead |
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2%
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| Source: Kentucky Department of Travel 05/20/04 |
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Click on the map above for a printable map of the area.
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Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Commission
P. O. Box 825
399 Outlet Center Drive
Georgetown, KY 40324
(888) 863-8600 (toll-free)
(502) 863-2547
Site Maintained: mjl
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