Kelly’s campaign stunt
I don’t ski but I used to work in the ski industry, with a small consulting firm whose biggest client was a now-defunct company which operated several ski areas now owned by Vail Resorts. Vail Resorts leases the Mount Sunapee Ski Area from the state parks department, and owns three other ski areas in New Hampshire, and about 40 other resorts nationwide and worldwide. It pays various taxes here in New Hampshire.
I understand why Gov. Kelly Ayotte wanted to take a stand against sales taxation. Broadbased sales and income taxes are unpopular here in the Granite State and she is fighting a tough re-election campaign against Democratic challenger Cinde Warmington.
We actually have a sales tax, and we call it the Meals & Rental Tax. Ski lift services are excluded from that sales tax.
Vail Resorts incurred Ayotte’s wrath by adding a 3.2% surcharge for “Taxes & Fees” to the base price of season passes which allow skiers to use ski lifts at areas both inside and outside our state. Her anger was doubtless sincere, but the surcharge was perfectly legal. It is unethical for her to use the Attorney General’s office as part of a campaign stunt to harass a major local employer and taxpayer during her re-election campaign, using taxpayer dollars. It’s also just plain silly.
The company has offered a compromise, by offering passes which excludes Okemo and other Vail properties outside New Hampshire. Granite State skiers will be able to save between $12 and $21 per season. Big deal!