The Penticton Hospitality Association hired a Kelowna law firm to fight the City of Penticton for control of the two per cent hotel room tax.
(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)
November 25, 2013 - 4:01 PM
PENTICTON - The Penticton Hospitality Association is hiring a law firm to help fight the city for control of the two per cent hotel room tax.
The association and the City of Penticton are taking their disagreement on who should be handling the approximately $400,000 generated annually from the two per cent hotel room tax from the boardroom to the courtroom. The association retained the law firm of Pushor Mitchell LLP of Kelowna along with its lawyer Alfred Kempf.
“The City of Penticton’s recent attempt to unjustly wrest control of the MRDT funds away from the good stewardship of the PHA flies in the face of public opinion and the will of the business community generally," Association President Rob Appelman said.
Appelman said the association has been deliberately hindered by a targeted campaign.
"However, throughout this period we have maintained a professional and dignified silence and been able to rise above what we perceive to be gamesmanship in order to continue our work, which whilst still in its infancy, has been a success.
"We very much look forward to putting an end to these tactics for good."
The city has another view. In the past, Penticton leadership have criticized the association for sitting on the hotel room tax money and not spending it or not spending enough of it on exterior marketing. City council ordered the association to transfer control of the $400,000 to Tourism Penticton.
For more information on the association visit its website.
To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, send tweets to @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013