In the advertising world (not the Peter Marsh advertising world, but the real advertising world) it has been deemed to take 27 impressions before a stooge gets the message. Of course in Estes Park the stooges are a little slow, so let’s say 35 impressions for EP. So, here we go again-
Tourists are good! Tourists are good! Tourists are good!
And, yet again, the Estesparkian will explain clearly and succinctly.
The Town of Estes Park relies on sales tax revenue as well as property taxes etc. to pay the obscene salaries of the under worked and overrated staff. They have to pay top dollar and give massive benefits to a staff that is clearly 15-20% bloated. That’s what they do here.
Local people, those of us who live here, don’t shop here. Why? Perhaps they don’t want any T-shirts, elk carvings or overpriced furniture. Perhaps they like shopping in the valley. Who the hell knows? In any case, the tourists flock to town and spend money in the little shops (being treated like lepers for the effort) and the shops pay sales tax to the town; unless of course they are part of the Scottfest, Bond Park crafts, Woolen Market or many other competitors to retail. The sales tax goes to the State, gets funneled back to the town and the town pisses it away.
Now, many locals say they hate the tourists because they take all the parking and the locals can’t then shop downtown, something they don’t do anyway. They hate the long summer lines at Safeway or anything that causes a moments inconvenience. People, thank the tourists! They provide the sales tax needed to run this town. You don’t, but the visitors do. Thank you tourists, Amen!
What happens if the tourists go away? First, property taxes go up. A lot! Do you really think the Town will curtail spending? Well, boys and girls, that won’t happen. Do we have a choice, possibly, but the Town doesn’t like to give choices. A good example is the shuttle service the Town committed for the National Park. The Town has no transportation district and no authority, but they did it anyway, to the total of over six figures. That’s in the $100,000’s friends. Did they ask for a vote? Of course not, they don’t have the authority to do it why would they bother to ask? How many of you want to pay for the shuttle? This is local tax dollars at work. Just think if that money went to support the pool, something we all could enjoy. What a novel idea, something for locals. Will changes come to Estes Park? Eventually, since the death rate is greater than the birth rate we should be shrinking, paying even less to the Town coffers. Unless you begin to understand that you can control our future, and are willing to work toward that end, nothing really will change. That’s too bad.
Message: 28
