The Effingham City Council is set to vote on updates to its amusement tax policy at their meeting tonight at 6:00 PM in City Hall. The ordinance imposes a 5% tax on ticket sales for amusements that take place within city limits. The tax has been on the books for years, but hasn’t always been enforced.
Changes to the policy includes: eliminating exemptions for non-profit organizations, creates the ability for amusement providers who put on less than 10 events a year to file an estimated return to the clerk’s office prior to an event, and establishes an annual amusement licence fee of $100.
Several businesses have expressed concern with renewed discussions of stricter enforcement the tax. They claim that the tax could hurt their ability to sell tickets for events and even that it would make Effingham less competitive in trying to bring entertainers, like Luke Bryan, to town.
The City will use funds generated from the tax for tourism efforts and to help groups looking to the City for monetary support of events. Many other municipalities have similar taxes in place.