So the two-town mayors and county administrator and supervisor's chairman get together for informal chats.
Apparently, one of the topics has been capping the tourism funding. Christiansburg took action first, now the supervisors are examining the issue and Blacksburg has talked about it, according to the news report.
Apparently, these taxing authorities aren't satisfied with how much lodging tax they get to assess and don't want to share. Nevermind there's also a meals tax, which represents the largest cash source for taxes in both Blacksburg and Christiansburg -- hitting visitors, tourists and residents.
Apparently, these three taxing authorities think retaining another 15% of 1% -- or about $50,000 a year altogether -- will provide them with the means to do a bang-up job of regional marketing themselves. The way the county's lodging deal goes, if they do contribute less to the regional initiative, those tax funds must be used for promoting tourism. Just who will be doing this remains the question. This seems cheesy (and not the type you'd put on a 'burger).
Local governments haven't been great partners with the chamber of commerce, representing member businesses in the area. Tolerant, maybe. Partners, not so much. Why?
Another question -- as a consumer, private employees at these companies or as business owners, or just a regular voter -- is why our elected officials want to appear anti-business?
Haven't these same government officials cried foul when the state established a tax for one reason, but then used the funds for something else or changed funding formulas to localities?