This weekend will start the competition for retail dollars in the community. The Town has spiffed up Bond Park with sod that will become trodden with thousands of feet that will be touring the parks arts festival. Retailers will be pleading for visitors to come into their newly swept shops with loads of inventory and bright shiny windows, as they hope to sell goods that will, in turn, provide sales tax dollars to the Town.
The sales in the park are on the honor system to pay taxes but there is no way to control whether or not they actually do. This is because Estes Park is a statutory town that has no method of collecting taxes. Who loses? We all do.
What could we do that would allow everyone to win? First, we could eliminate the fairs in the park and not allow outside vendors. If an art group wants to make money, they could have displays in the park of their own inventory. Visitors would tour and enjoy the artwork. Artists and cultural groups could pass out coupons to visitors (provided by shopkeepers) that would encourage visitors to visit those shops. The coupons could give a value that a portion of would be returned to the non-profit.
Let’s say a 5% coupon would also provide 2% to the art group. Some combination of this arrangement would be a win-win for everyone.
Is this all true and accurate enough for you? Will it work?
Of course it is true and accurate, but it won’t work here because nobody gets along and wouldn’t cooperate on this type of enterprise. Instead they will bitch and moan about all of the lost sales given to the art fair. What a shame.
