I got a huge chuckle out of the recent arguments on Findlay City Council over Bed Tax give aways to a certain non-profit group and not to others who asked. It gives an air of impropriety to the actions of an elected body especially when the people argue for an action that will benefit their friends.
A Bed Tax is collected from users of hotels and motels and is shared by the city of Findlay and Hancock county. Last year it amounted to about $510,000.
The non-profit Arts Partnership got city council to give it $40,000 of the tax money until 2016.
Other non-profits like the Hancock Historical Museum came calling for a share of the tax dollars.
Once city council found out they would get requests from other non-profits, they voted to stop the practice all together by putting the money into the general fund. Of course the Arts Partnership will still get their cut until 2016.
“Mayor Lydia Mihalik said it’s only fair that council consider requests from the museum and others, since it already granted some of the tax dollars to the Arts Partnership.
“It’s something that deserves ample consideration,” Mihalik said. “It (historical museum) has its merits. We should try and find a way to accommodate it.”
Similarly, Councilman Nichols called for more consideration of the issue. Nichols previously said, “There’s a lot of nonprofits out there that deserve some money.”
“I’m disturbed that we’ve reached this point and how we’ve reached it,” Nichols said Tuesday.”
Yes, city council should not have made the deal with the Arts Partnership if they weren’t going to give the same deal to other non-profits who asked for funds.
Giving the Arts Partnership funds and not the others shows favoritism and people get upset especially if some people judge your non-profit as not essential to the health of the community. It is also unseemly when elected officials with a conflict of interest give their view point on an issue where the conflict originates.
